175* 

Ce 



FAMILIAR 



INSTRUCTIONS 

IN THE 

FAITH AND MORALITY 

OF THE 

CATHOLIC CHURCH, 

ADAPTED TO THE USE 



BOTH OF CHILDREN AND ADULTS. 



COMPILED FROM THE WORKS OF THE MOST. APPROVED 
CATHOLIC WRITERS, 

BY THE REV. JOSEPH CURR. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE BY PATRICK J. FALLON ; 

ALSO; BY M. FITHIANj NO. 61 NORTH SECOND ST. 

Stereotyped by L. Johnson. 

1837. 




"Familiar Instructions in the 
Faith and Morality of the Catholic 
Church, by the Rev. Joseph Ctjrr," 
are excellently calculated to impart a cor- 
rect knowledge of the Christian truths 
and duties, and are recommended to the 
faithful. 

Given at Philadelphia, this 28th Octo- 
ber, 1836. 

f Francis Patrick Kenrick, 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 
1837 by Patrick J. Fallon, in the Clerk's Office of 
the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



Bp. Jhath and Coadj. Phil. 



2 




LC Control Number 




tmp96 031781 



PREFACE. 



The zeal and learning of so many Catholic writers 
saving already furnished the public with a long list of 

ooks of religious instruction, the compiler of the present 
reatise feels himself called upon to state his reasons for 
>ffering it to their notice. Far be it from him to wish or 

j think that he is able to derogate from the merit which 
public approbation proves those works to possess. But 
Ihe object of this treatise is somewhat different from 
theirs ; viz. the instruction of children in general, and of 
idults amongst the poor whose religious education has 
oeen neglected in their earlier years. To obtain this two* 
Told object, the writer conceives that simplicity of lan- 
guage and conciseness should be particularly regarded: 
Simplicity of language, in order that it may be the more 
tasily understood ; and conciseness, because prolixity 
would greatly tend to bewilder, and would also put the 
work beyond the reach of those for whom it is designed. 
Now, amongst the many works already before the public, 
the compiler is of opinion that there is no one calculated 
to answer these two ends: not that he supposes the 
author of any of them to have been incapable of effecting 
what he has attempted, but that none of them have l*ad 
his objects precisely in view, 

Having thus stated the motives which have induced 
him to write, his next duty is to develope his plan j 
and in this he presumes that he may lay claim to origin*. 

3 



4 



ality. Most books of instruction already in the hands of 
the public, are in the form of question and answer — a 
form, undoubtedly, of all others the most simple, but in 
one respect liable, he conceives, to a serious objection, 
There is, perhaps, no child of common parts, that has 
attained its seventh year, that might not in the space of 
three or four months be taught to answer every question 
in the catechism; and yet, from merely having been 
taught to answer the several questions, it would have 
acquired little or no idea of the truths and duties of reli- 
gion. The reason of this is, because the catechetical form 
merely calls for the exercise of the will and memory^ 
without exacting any thing from the understanding. 
Children, even of three or four years of age, possess 
memories as retentive of what they learn, as do the gene- 
rality of adults, whereas they are almost incapable of 
religious instruction, because they have but little judg-* 

ment Or Understanding : hence it io only in proportion to 

the advances which they make in understanding that they 
acquire capacity for instruction : when they have attained 
a partial use of judgment or reason, they are capable of 
understanding the principles and duties of religion to a 
partial extent ; when they have arrived to the full use 
of reason, they are capable of complete instruction. A 
nearly similar mode of reasoning is applicable to adults 
whose minds have never been introduced into the field 
of religion. Now, as it can be of little service to a person 
to have his memory charged with a form of words that is 
not understood, the compiler has adopted a plan, which, 
whilst it retains the familiar form of question, calls forth 
the exercise of the judgment. By this means a child or 
other person, with due application, will always acquire a 
degree of real knowledge proportioned to his capacity. 



5 



The plan is to expound the principles of the faith and 
morality of the catholic church, in an easy and familiar 
style ; and to insert at the bottom of each page a series 
of questions, with numerical reference to the sentence or 
sentences in the text wherein the answers are contained. 
As the discovery of these answers, though easy, necessa- 
rily requires the exercise of the judgment, it must, when 
made, convey to the mind a partial understanding, at least, 
of the subject. The improvement, therefore, which the 
writer hopes he has effected, is briefly this : — that, whilst 
on the old plan, a person may easily learn without under- 
standing, on this, he is almost compelled to understand 
what he learns. Let it not, however, be supposed that 
he wishes the use of the catechism to be discarded ; for 
although by itself the catechism will seldom give a per- 
son an adequate idea of religion, yet it is eminently useful 
as a ground-work for instruction, and tends also to pre- 
serve uniformity of thought and expression on religious, 
subjects. 

The method, also, or arrangement of his matter, is a 
point to which the writer has paid particular attention, 
convinced as he is, that from a want of due regard to 
this, the minds of many under instruction are confused. 
The method which he has adopted, although not new in 
itself, is so to the English reader. The work is divided 
into two parts : in the first part is explained what all are 
obliged to believe ; in the second, what all are obliged to 
practise. The first part, after detailing what relates to 
the Deity, takes a short historical review of the creation of 
the angels and of man, and of the state of the world from 
its commencement to the present time, as well as of what 
the Scriptures inform us will happen until the consume 
jnation of all things in eternity. Under this are comprised 
I* 



6 



the principal articles of faith respecting our Redeemer, 
his church, the sacraments, &c. The second part treats 
of the vices and virtues, the commandments, the practical 
duties appertaining to each of the sacraments, prayer, Sec. 
The compiler, being fully sensible of the paramount ne- 
cessity that every Christian should have a thorough know- 
ledge of what relates to the eucharistic sacrament and 
sacrifice, and the practical part of the sacrament of 
penance, has devoted to them particular attention ; and 
although those treatises are comparatively long, he feels 
convinced that, on examination, they will be found to 
contain nothing which is not either essential or very 
useful. 

Such are the writer's motives for introducing himself to 
public notice ; such are his plans of instruction, and his 
arrangement of matter. He hopes, however, that the 
polished or well-instructed reader will bear in mind that 
he has not written for him. All his wish is, to be of 
assistance to pastors of large congregations, in the instruc- 
tion of their flocks, and to furnish a book that may be of 
utility in Sunday-schools. If his work prove to answei 
these ends, he will have attained his object, and consider 
that his trouble is amply repaid. 

Mhton-in-MackerJield, Sept. 1, 1829. 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Page 

t. Religion.— II. Its necessity.— III. Natural and revealed 
religion.— IV. Old and new law.— V. Necessity of faith and 
good works * T ; - 9 

PART THE FIRST. 

Chap. I.— Sect. I. Unity of God.— II. Trinity - 13 

Chap. II.— Sect. I. Creation and fall of the angels.-^II. Cre- 
ation and fall of man —in. Original sin - r - 14 

Chap. III.— Sect. I. The promise of a Redeemer, and state 
of the world before his coming.— II. The coming of our 
Redeemer, and his divine and human nature - - - 17 

£hap. IV.— Sect. I. Foundation of the Christian religion.— 
II. Invisible and visible head of the church.— III. Marks of 
the true church - 2. 

t CHAP. V— Sect. L Authority of the pastors of the church. — 
II. Communion of saints.— III. Veneration of relics and 
images - - - - 24 

Chap. VI.— Sect. I. Necessity of divine grace.— n. The sa- 
craments in general - ? - - ? -27 

Chap. VII.— Sect. I. Baptism,— II. Confirmation.— HE. Cha- 
racter - - . -30 

Chap. VIII.— Sect. I. Penance.— II. Contrition.— IIL Con- 
fession.— IV. Satisfaction.— V. Indulgences *' ; • -33 

Chap. IX.— Sect. L Holy eucharist as a sacrament.— II. 
Holy eucharist as a sacrifice - - - * • • 4£> 

Chap. X.— Sect. I.— Extreme unction - 67 

Chap. XI.— Sect. I. Holy orders ? ♦ - - - 59 

Chap. XII.— Sect. I. Matrimony - - - - -6$ 

Chap. XIII.— Sect. L Death of Christ— II. His resurrection 
and ascension 6p 

Chap. XIV.— Sect. I. Descent of the Holy Ghost.— II. Preach- 
ing of the apostles.— HI. State of the church until the pre- 
sent time - - - -66 

Chap. XV.— Sect. L Death.— II. Particular judgment after 
death.— III. State of departed souls before the last day - 73 



8 CONTENTS. 

Page 

Chap. XVI.— Sect. I. The end of the world.— II. Antichrist. 
—III. Enoch and Elias, and the conversion of the Jews - 75 

Chap. XVII.— Sect. I. General resurrection.— II. Last com- 
ing of Jesus Christ, and the general judgment - 77 

Chap. XVIII.— Sect. I. The happiness of the elect.— II. The 
torments of the wicked 79 

PART THE SECOND. 

Chap. I.— Sect.'I. Sin in general.— II. Particular kinds of 
Bin - - - - 82 

Chap. II.— Sect. I. The capital sins, and their opposite 
virtues and remedies - - - - - -.86 

Chap. III.— Sect. I. The theological virtues.— II. The mo- 
ral virtues 92 

Chap. IV.— Sect. I. The ten commandments ... 97 

Chap. V.— Sect. I. Precepts of the church— II. Holydays. 
-rill. Hearing mass on Sundays.— IV. Annual confes- 
sion. — V. Easter communion. — VI. Abstinence and fast- 
ing.— VII. Prohibition to marry at certain times - - 99 

Chap. VI.— Sect ; I, Baptism, the duty of parents.— II. In- 
fants in danger of death.— III. Godfathers and godmothers. 
—IV. Conditional baptism - - 106 

Chap. VII.— Sect. I. Confirmation - - r ? * 109 

Chap. VIII.— Sect. I. Penance.— II. What is to be done 
before confession— lit. What is to be done at confession. 
—IV. What after confession.— V. Important observations 110 

Chap. IX— Sect. I. Holy eucharist— II. Preparation for 
communion.— III. How to receive communion.— IV. De- 
votion after communion.— V. Frequent communion - J43 

Chap. X.— Sect. I. Hearing mass.— II. Visits to the blessed 
sacrament and benediction 158 

Chap. XL— Sect. I. Sickness.— II. Extreme unction.— HI. 
Last benediction 166 

Chap. XII. Sect. I.— Holy orders.— II. Religious state - 172 

Chap. XIII.— Sect. I. Matrimony. — II. Impediments of 
marriage.— III. Manner of preparing to enter that state.— 
IV. What is to be done on entering it.— V. Obligations of 
married persons.— VI. Churching of women after child- 
birth ------- ? ... 176 

Chap. XTV.— Sect. I. Prayer, mental and vocal.^-II. Its 
necessity.— III. Conditions of prayer.— IV. Time of pray- 
er.— V. "What prayers are to be said— VI. Meditation, - 191 

Chap. XV.— Sect. I. Sign of the cross.— II. Blessings.— 
III.— Confraternities - -- - - -- - 200 

Chap. XVI.— Sect. I. Eight Beatitudes— II. Conclusion - 20| 



INTRODUCTION. 



I. Religion. — II. Its necessity. — III. Natu- 
ral and revealed religion. — IV. Old and 
new law, — V. Necessity of faith and good 
works. 

I. 1 Religion is the science which teach- 
es man to know God, and how to worship 
him. 

II. 2 The existence of God, as the crea- 
tor and sovereign Lord of all, proves the 
necessity of religion in all beings that pos- 
sess the use of reason : for God could not 
have endowed any of his creatures with 
will, memory, and understanding, without 
requiring them to use those faculties in 
serving him. 

III. 3 Religion may be distinguished 
into two kinds, natural and revealed. A Na- 

1 What is meant by religion ? 

2 Is religion necessary 1 

8 How many kinds of religion are there 1 
4 What is natural religion ] 

9 



10 



tural religion, or, as it is otherwise called, 
the law of nature, is that primitive wor* 
ship, which the Almighty prescribed to 
our first parent, and the patriarchs, his 
descendants. 1 Revealed religion are those 
two more explicit modes of worship, one 
of which the Almighty revealed to the 
Jeivish people through the ministry of 
Moses and other prophets ; and the other, 
in after time, to the whole world, through 
his son Jesus Christ. 

IV. 2 Those truths, which were made 
known to the Jews through the voice of 
Moses and the prophets, are called the old 
law, and they are so named, because the 
various ceremonies of that law which were 
merely figurative of what Jesus Christ was 
afterwards to establish, were abrogated 
ivhen he came into the world. 3 The new 
law, then, is the doctrine which was 
preached by Jesus Christ, which his apos- 
tles promulgated throughout the world, 
and which will be handed down to the end 
pf time in the church which they esta- 
blished. 

V. Some things, which God has re- 



1 What is revealed religion 1 

2 What is the Old Law ? 
s What is the New Law $ 



II 



vealed, merely require our belief; others, 
relate to our practice. 1 Both, however, 
are equally binding upon all men; that 
is to say, we are as much obliged, under 
pain of eternal damnation, to believe what 
God has taught, as we are to practise the 
good works which he has commanded \ iof 
he who has said, that faith without good 
works is deadf or of no avail, has also 
assured us that without faith it is impossi- 
ble to please GodA Hence it follows that 
to attain salvation it does not suffice, as many 
ignorant persons imagine, to wish well to 
dvery one, and to do no injury by word 
or deed to others, but that we must, more- 
over, be true Christians, by believing all 
those truths which God has taught, and by 
avoiding all the evil which he has forbid- 
den, and practising the particular virtues 
which he has commanded. The following 
treatise, therefore, is divided into twd 
parts: in the first J is laid down the sub- 

* Are both faith and good works necessary for sal- 
vation 1 



* St. James ii. 26. f Heb. xi. 6. 

t The compiler would not have it supposed that he 
considers every article contained in the first part to be 
strictly speaking an article of faith. He has, however, 
laid down nothing as a point of doctrine which is not 
in accordance with Catholic doctrine. 



12 



stance of what Christians are obliged td 
believe; in the second are explained the 
evil which they are commanded to avoid, 
and the good which they are required to 
practise. 



PART THE FIRST. 

WHAT CHRISTIANS ARE OBLIGED TO BELIEVE. 



CHAPTER THE FIRST. 

I. Unity of God* — II. Trinity, 

I. 1 There is one and only one God. 
2 God is a pare spirit without body or 
parts; he is the Lord and maker of heaven 
and earth; he is everywhere present: he 
knows , sees, and governs all things; he can 
do whatever he pleases, and is infinite in 
all his perfections. 

II. 3 Although there is only one God, 
yet this one God exists in three distinct 
persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost. 4 This is called the mystery of the 
blessed trinity* 5 The Father proceeds 



1 How many Gods are there 1 

2 What do you know about the nature and properties 
of God 1 

3 How many persons are there in God ! 

4 What do we call this mystery ? 

5 From whom does the Father proceed 1 

* Matt, xxviii. 19. Go and teach all nations, baptizing 
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost. 1 John v. 7. There are three who 
give testimony in heaven — the Father, the Word, and 
the Holy Ghost — and these three are one. 

2 13 



14 

from no one, 1 the Son proceeds from the 
Father only; 2 and the Holy Ghost from 
the Father and the Son. 3 No one of 
these three divine persons is greater than 
the others, because all are equally eternal, 
without any beginning, all have the same 
power and knowledge, all, in short, are 
one and the same Lord, one and the same 
God. 



CHAPTER THE SECOND. 

I. Creation and fall of the angels — II. Creation and 
fall of man. — III. Original sin. 

I. 4 In the beginning God created an 
innumerable multitude of angels, or pure 
spirits without bodies, with the design of 
making them happy with himself in hea- 
ven. Many of these, by turning to God 
and acknowledging their dependence on 
him, were confirmed in glory and happi- 
ness. These are the blessed spirits whom 
we still call by the name of angels. 5 We 



1 From whom does the Son proceed 1 

2 From whom does the Holy Ghost proceed 1 

3 Is any one of these Persons greater than the others ? 

4 What are the angels ? 

5 What are our guardian angels ? 



15 



have each of us a particular angel ap- 
pointed by Almighty God to watch over 
us* 1 Others amongst those spirits whom 
God created in the beginning, fell from 
him by pride and rebellion; in punishment 
of which they were cast out of heaven and 
sentenced to eternal torments in hell. 
These are the evil spirits whom we call 
devils, and the head of them Lucifer, Sa- 
tan, or the Devil. 2 These wicked spirits 
are permitted by Almighty God to exert 
their malice in tempting mankind to 
sin ,t yet so that they have not the power 
of drawing us into sin without the consent 
of our own will. J 

II. 3 In the beginning God also created 
the world and all things in it by the power 



1 What are the devils ? 

% What power have the devils over mankind ? 
3 Who created the world and all things in it 1 



* Ps. xc. 11. He hath given his angels charge over 
thee to keep thee in all thy ways. Matt, xviii. 10. Take 
heed that yon despise not one of these little ones : for 
I say to you that their angels in heaven always see 
the face of my Father who is in heaven. Heb. i. 14. 
Are they not all ministering spirits sent to minister for 
them who shall receive the inheritance of salvation ? 

f 1 Pet v. 8. Be sober and watch, for your adver- 
sary the devil, like a roaring lion, goeth about seeking 
whom he may devour. 

% James iv. 7. Resist the devil and he will fly from you, 



16 



of his own almighty word. 1 The last but 
noblest of all his works upon earth were 
the first parents of all mankind, Adam 
and Eve. 2 He created them not only with 
bodies formed out of the dust of the earth, 
but infused also into them immortal souls 
or spirits after his own image and likeness, 
3 gifting these with the powers of free will, 
memory, and understanding. 4 He placed 
them in a part of the earth called the ter- 
restrial par adise, where it was his design 
to have made them and all their children 
happy for a time, and then to have taken 
them all to heaven without their passing 
through the gate of death. 5 Nevertheless, 
God was pleased to make this happiness 
depend upon their fidelity to him, 6 and 
in order to try their obedience he forbad 
them to eat the fruit of a certain tree 
that stood in the middle of paradise. 
7 They transgressed this command, 8 and 
in punishment thereof, were justly ban- 



1 Which is the noblest of God's works upon earth ? 

2 Of what is man composed 1 

3 What are the powers of the soul 1 

4 Where did God place our first parents 1 

5 Upon what was their happiness to depend ? 

6 What did he do to try their obedience ] 

7 Were they obedient 1 

s What was the punishment of their disobedience \ 



17 



ished out of their happy abode, con^ 
demned to all the miseries of this life, to 
the death of the body, and finally to suffer 
both in body and soul the eternal torments 
of hell, together with the devil who se- 
duced them. 

III. 1 This transgression of Adam and 
Eve involved all their posterity in the 
guilt of sin, 2 which we call original sin, 
and in which we are all born: 3 like them 
we are subject to the miseries of this life, 
and to death, 4 and both their souls and 
ours must have been eternally lost, if God 
had not been pleased in his mercy to pro-* 
vide a Redeemer. 



CHAPTER THE THIRD. 

I. The promise of a Redeemer, and state of the 
world before his coming. — II. The coming of 
our Redeemer, and his divine and human nature* 

I. 5 Immediately after the fall of our 
first parents, God promised to send a 
Redeemer, or Saviour, who should make 



\ Did their disobedience affect their posterity ? 
2 What is the sin of our first parents called ? 
8 What are the consequences of original sin to our 
bodies ? 

4 What are the consequences of it to our souls ? 
s Did God promise our first parents a Redeemer] 
2* 



18 



entire satisfaction to his justice, infinitely 
injured by their sin, and thereby enabled 
them and their posterity to attain eternal 
life. 1 This promised Saviour, however, 
did not come into the world until the 
expiration of about four thousand years. 
2 During this time no soul could enter 
heaven. 3 Those, however, who believed 
in this Redeemer to come, hoped in the 
merits of his future sufferings, and loved 
God and served him in the manner he was 
pleased to require, were, at their death, 
sent to a place of rest called Limbo, un- 
til the coming of the Redeemer, who, by 
his ascension into heaven, opened heaven 
for them. 4 During the long period which 
elapsed between the fall of our first parents 
and the coming of our Saviour, it was the 
misfortune of the far greater part of man- 
kind to abandon themselves to sin and 
wickedness. 5 For their punishment and 
correction, God frequently inflicted severe 
chastisements upon them ; but, at length, 



1 How long was it before the Redeemer came 1 

2 Could any soul go to heaven before his coming ? 

3 Whither did the souls of the just go before his 
coming 1 

4 What was the conduct of the generality of man- 
kind during that time 1 

5 How did God punish the wickedness of mankind ? 



19 



in the rigour cf his justice, he destroyed 
all mankind by the waters of the deluge, 
with the exception of eight persons, viz. 
Noah, his wife, his three sons and their 
wives, whom he preserved in an ark, in 
order to re-people the earth. 1 In propor- 
tion as the earth became a second time 
filled with inhabitants, vice and depravity 
again became general, 2 when the Al- 
mighty, abandoning his rebellious crea- 
tures to the hardness of their own hearts, 
suffered them to lose the knowledge of 
him and fall into idolatry, 3 and chose a 
man called Abraham, whom he made the 
father of a neiv race of people. 4 These 
were the Israelites. 5 To this people he, 
not long afterward, gave possession of the 
rich and fertile country of Canaan, and 
also revealed to them, through the voice 
of Moses and other prophets, particular 
laws, and the manner in which they were 
to worship him. They, in after time, be- 
came divided by schism into two distinct 
nations, the one being called Jews, the 
other Samaritans : and these, until the 



1 Did this chastisement produce a good effect P 

2 How did God punish them a second time ? 

3 Who was Abraham ? 

4 What were the descendants of Abraham called] 

5 What favours did God bestow upon them*? 



20 



coming of our Redeemer, were the only 
people upon earth who possessed the 
knowledge of the true God : all other 
nations were buried in idolatry. 

II. When the time which God had ap- 
pointed by his eternal decrees arrived, he 
sent into the world the Saviour whom he 
had promised. 1 This was no other than 
his own divine So?i, the second person of 
the adorable Trinity, clothed in our human 
nature. 2 He was conceived by the power 
of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of a 
virgin named Mary, without having any 
man for his father, and was born of her, 
she still continuing to be a pure virgin. 
3 At his birth they called his name Jesus, 
a name which signifies Saviour. 4 He 
was both true God and true man — true 
God, being the second person in God, 
equal in all things to the Father and the 
Holy Ghost,* and true man, because he 
hacj a body and soul like ours.t 

1 Who was the Redeemer whom God had prQmised 
from the beginning of the world ? 
3 How did he come 1 

3 What was he called 1 

4 Was he both God and man .? 

* John i. 1. In the beginning was the Word — and the 
Word was God. John x. 30. The Father and I are one. 

f John i. 14. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt 
among us. 



21 



CHAPTER THE FOURTH. 

I. Foundation of the Christian religion. — II. Invi- 
sible and visible Head of the church. — III. Marks 
of the true church. 

I. 1 Jesus Chsist having lived thirty 
years in retirement and obscurity, spent 
the last three years of his mortal life in 
founding, by his heavenly doctrine and 
wonderful miracles, the Christian reti- 
gio7i. 2 Shortly after he had begun his 
public life, he made choice of twelve apos- 
tles. These were men whom he intended 
to be constant hearers of his doctrine and 
witnesses of his miracles, and whom, be- 
fore he left this earth, he commissioned to 
announce what they had heard and seen 
to every creature, and thereby to plant 
his church in every part of the globe. * 

II. 3 Jesus Christ, having been the 
founder, is also the perpetual, though invi- 
sible Head of the Christian church. 4 He 



1 How did our Redeemer spend his life ? 

2 What were his twelve apostles, and what were they 
commissioned by him to do 1 

3 Who is the invisible head of the church of Christ? 

4 Is this church to last until the end of the world 7 



* Mark xvi. 15. Go ye into the whole world and 
preach the gospel to every creature. 



22 

designed that this church should continue 
to the end of the world ; but, as he did not 
intend to remain with it for ever in person, 
1 he appointed St. Peter and his succes- 
sors, the bishops of Borne, as his vicer 
gerents, or successive visible heads of his 
church.* 

III. 2 Christ established his church as the 
means whereby mankind were to obtain 
salvation :t he was pleased, therefore, to give 
it certain marks, by which every sincere 
inquirer may discover it. 3 He appointed 
that his church should be one, by all its 
members professing one faith, partaking of 
th§ same sacraments, and living in com- 
munion under one chief pastor; | that it 

1 Who is the visible head of the church 1 

2 Is it necessary to be members of the church of 
Christ I 

3 What are the marks of the true church 1 

* Matt. xvi. 18. Thou art Peter, and upon this rock 
I will build my church. John xxi. 15 — 17. Jesus saith 
to Simon Peter : feed my lambs : feed my sheep. 

f Mark xvi. 16. He that believeth and is baptized 
shall be saved : but he that believeth not shall be con- 
demned. 2 Thes. i. 7. They who obey not the gospel 
of our Lord Jesus Christ shall suffer eternal punish- 
ment in destruction from the face of the Lord. 

t Eph. iv, 5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. 
1 Cor. x. 17. We being many are one bread, one body, 
all who partake of one bread. John x. 16. There shalj 
be one fold and one shepherd* 



23 



should be holy, by teaching a holy doc- 
trine, by inviting all to a holy life, and by 
th£ eminent holiness of thousands that 
should belong to it in every age;* that it 
should be catholic or universal, by sub- 
sisting at all times, teaching all nations, 
and maintaining all truths;^ and that it 
should be apostolical, by receiving its 
doctrine, and the ordination and mission 
of its pastors in uninterrupted succession 
from his apostles. X 1 Hence no society 
professing the name of Christian can pos- 
sibly be the church which Christ establish- 
ed, that cannot show its undoubted claim 
to all and each of these marks. 



1 Can any society of Christians be the true church 
that has not these marks 1 m 



* Eph. v. 26, 27. Christ loved his church and de- 
livered himself for it that he might sanctify it, &c. 

-j- MaL i. 11. From the rising of the sun to the going 
down thereof my name is great among the Gentiles. 
Col. i. 6. The truth of the gospel is come to you, as it 
is in the whole world. 

£ Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. Go ye and teach all nations — 
and behold I am with you all days to the end of the 
World. John xx. 21. As the Father has sent me I also 
send you. 



CHAPTER THE FIFTH, 

- 

I. Authority of the pastors of the church, — II. Com- 
munion of saints, — III. Veneration of relics and 
images, 

I. 1 In order to preserve a perfect union 
among his followers, the Founder of the 
Christian religion appointed his apostles 
and their successors, the bishops of his 
church, to be the infallible judges in all 
controversies concerning religion. 2 Con- 
sequently no Christian can, without re- 
nouncing the true faith and his title to 
salvation, follow his own private judg- 
ment concerning the meaning of the holy 
Scriptures in opposition to theirs; and all 
are bound to listen to their voice as the 
voice of God himself, in all things relating 
to faith and morality.* 



1 What means did our divine Master appoint in order 
to preserve union among his folic "vers 1 

2 Is it ever lawful to follow our private judgment, 
in matters of religion, in opposition to the authority of 
the church? 



* John xvi. 16. I will ask the Father and he will | 
give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you j 
for ever, the Spirit of Truth. John xvi. 13. When he 
the Spirit of Truth is come, he will teach you all truth. 
Luke x. 16. He that hears you hears me, and he that j 
despises you despises me. 



25 

II. 1 0ur divine Master not only esta- 
blished a perfect union among his disci- 
ples during his life, but, moreover, intended 
that the same should subsist between the 
members of his church upon earth, and the 
souls of those who have departed this life 
in the state of grace : this union is called 
in the apostles' creed, the communion of 
saints. 2 It consists, 1st, in our being all 
united under him as our supreme Head, 
and partaking in each other's prayers and 
good works: 2d, 3 in our begging' the 
intercession of the saints in heaven, and 
their praying to God to grant us mercy, 
grace, and salvation, through the merits 
of our Redeemer ;* and 4 in the continual 
prayers which they and we offer for the 
souls of those among our brethren, whc* 
have died in an imperfect state of justice^ 
and are detained in purgatory 5 or a 
place of temporary suffering, until en- 



1 What is meant by the communion of saints ? 

2 In what does this communion consist? 

3 May we beg prayers of the saints in heaven ? 

4 Is it lawful to pray for our departed brethren $ 

5 What is purgatory ? 



* Zach. i. 12; The angel of tie Lord ahswered arid 
said : O Lord of hosts, how Jong wilt thou no} fcari 
mercy On Jerusalem, and on the cities? of Judaht 



2& 



tire satisfaction is made to the justice of 
of God.* 

III. 1 The relics, or mortal remains of 
God's faithful servants, as also the images 
or pictures of our crucified Redeemer and 
his saints, are to be had in veneration ; 
2 not that we are to honour them toith the 
veneration which we pay to God, (which 
would be idolatry f ) 3 or as considering that 
relics or images possess any virtice or 
goodness in themselves, but 4 merely with 
an inferior and relative honour, in as 
much as they are memorials of Jesus 
Christ himself, or of those whom he and 
his Father are honouring and rewarding 
in heaven, and as the sight of the cross 
serves to excite in our breast sentiments 
of love and gratitude to him who, for our 
gakes, died upon it, and the view of the 



* Is it lawful to venerate the image of our crucified 
Saviour, and the relics and pictures of his saints 1 

2 Are we to honour them with the veneration which 
we pay to God I 

3 Do they possess any virtue or goodness in them- 
selves 1 

4 How are we to venerate them T 



* 2 Mach. xii. 46. It is a holy and wholesome thought 
to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their 
sins. 



i 



27 



pictures of the saints is calculated to in- 
spire us with a holy zeal to imitate their 
yirtues.* 



CHAPTER THE SIXTH. 

I. Necessity of divine grace.— IX. The sacraments in 
general. 

I. 1 It is an article of the Christian faith 
which ought to be deeply impressed upon 
the minds of all, that without divine grace 
2 by which is meant the supernatural and 
gratuitous help and assistance of God, 
we can neither save our souls, nor make 
so much as one step toward heaven. 3 All 
the graces, which God has at any time 
bestowed, either in the old or new law, or 
will at any future time bestow upon any 
of his creatures, have been purchased for 
them by the sufferings and death of 



* Can we obtain salvation without the grace of God? 

2 What is meant by the grace of God ? 

I How has the grace been purchased for us P 



* Acts xix. 11. There were brought from his (St. 
Paul's) body to the sick handkerchiefs and aprons, and 
the diseases departed from them, and the wicked spirits 
went out of them. Gal. iv. 14. God forbid that I should 
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 



28 

liis divirie Son, Jesus Christ 1 As he 
wishes the salvation of all men, so he 
grants to all a sufficiency of grace, by 
a due correspondence with which they 
will daily and hourly receive fresh sup- 
plies, which in the end will bring them ta 
eternal life. 2 Hence those who are lost 
for ever are not lost from any want of 
goodness on the part of God, but because 
they do not co-operate with the graces 
%vhich he bestoivs upon them. 

II. 3 Had it been the will and pleasure 
of the Almighty, he might have bestowed 
ypon his creatures all the graces which are 
necessary to effect their justification and 
salvation, without employing any external 
means. But such was not his pleasure, 
and accordingly we are taught that Jesus, 
Christ instituted in his church certain out- 
ward ceremonies, to be the instruments, 
of conveying grace to the souls of those 
who make proper use of them. 4 Those 
ceremonies we call sacraments. 5 */l sa- 

1 Does God grant sufficient grace to each one, 
whereby, if he duly correspond with it, he may be 
saved 1 

2 Why are some souls lost for ever 1 

3 Did iesus Christ establish any outward ceremonies 
%o be the instrument of conveying grace to our souls 1 

* What do we call those ceremonies ? 
f How do you define a sacrament .? 



29 



cr anient j therefore, may be defined, a 
sacred ceremony accompanied with cer- 
tain words ordained by Christ for the 
purpose of conveying grace to our souls. 
1 The sacraments do not all produce the 
same effect, but each one is intended to 
confer a grace peculiar to itself 2 The 
ordinary ministers of the sacraments are 
pastors of the church, some being admi- 
nistered by bishops only, and others by 
bishops or priests. 

3 The sacraments are seven in number, 
viz. baptism, confirmation, penance, 
eucharist, extreme unction, orders, and 
matrimony. 4 Some of these are neces- 
sary for salvation, others are so far neces- 
sary that to neglect to receive them under 
certain circumstances would be a grievous 
sin; and others again are only necessary 
for certain persons. The ceremony, the 
effect, the proper minister, and the neces- 
sity of each of the sacraments, will be fully 
explained in the following six chapters. 



1 Do they all produce the same effect ? 

2 Who are the ministers of the sacrament t 

3 How many sacraments are there, and what are their 
names ? 

4 Are they all necessary for salvation 1 

3* 



\ 



30 



CHAPTER THE SEVENTH, 

I. Baptism, — II. Confirmation, — III. Character*. 

I. *The sacred ceremony of baptism 
consists in pouring water upon the heacti 
or face of the person to be baptized. 
I The words which are to accompany the 
ceremony are these: I baptize thee in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost* 3 The proper or- 
dinary minister of this- sacrament, is a 
bishop, priest, or deacon : 4 but in case of 
necessity, that is, 5 when a child or other 
person happens to be in danger of death a 
and an ordinary minister cannot be had, 
any man or woman is allowed to admi- 
nister this sacrament. 6 It must, however^ 
be observed, that a child should never be 
baptized, or held to be baptized by vt§ 



1 What is the ceremony of baptism ? 

2 What are the words ? 

3 Who is the proper minister of baptism I 

4 Can any other person baptize in case of necessity \ 
% What is meant by a case of necessity ? 

G Is it proper for parents to baptize their own children 
in case of danger 1 

*- Matt, xxviii. 19. Go and teach all nations, baptizing 
them in the name of the Father, and of the Spn^ and 
of the Holy QhosJ. 



31 



father or mother when any other person 
can be obtained to do it. 1 The effect or 
grace of baptism is to cleanse the soul 
from the stain of original sin, and in 
grown up persons from the guilt of actual 
sin; also, to make us children of God, 
and members of the church of Christ* 
2 Baptism is absolutely necessary for the 
salvation of all those who die before they 
attain the use of reason.t 3 In those who 
have arrived at the use of reason the want 
of it, when it cannot possibly be obtained, 
may be supplied by the desire of receiving 
it, accompanied with perfect contrition 
for their sins. 

II. 4 The sacred ceremony of confirma- 
tion consists in the extension of the 
bishop's hands over those who are to be 
confirmed, and his signing them on the 
forehead with chrism, which is a mixture 



* What is the effect or grace of baptism ? 

% Is baptism necessary for the salvation of infants 1 

3 Is it necessary for the salvation of adults P 

4 What is the ceremony of confirmation 1 



* Acts ii. 38. Do penance and be baptized every one 
of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission 
of your sins. 

f John iii. 5. Except a man be born again of water 
and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom 
of heaven. 



32 



of olive oil and balm, solemnly blessed by 
the bishop.* 1 The words which accom- 
pany the extension of the bishop's hands, 
are a prayer that the Holy Ghost may 
come down upon them : and, when he 
signs them on the forehead with chrism, 
he says : I sign thee with the sign of the 
cross, and confirm thee with the chrism of 
salvation, in the name of the Father, fyc. 

2 The ordinary minister of confirmation 
is a bishop only. 3 The effect or grace of 
this sacrament is to bring the Holy Ghost 
in a special manner into our souls ; who 
by his coming gives an additional strength 
to the grace received in baptism, enabling 
us the more easily to overcome all tempta- 
tions, and particularly to profess our faith 
under persecution.! 4 Confirmation is not 
absolutely necessary for salvation ; al- 



1 What are the words used in giving confirmation ? 

2 Who is the minister of confirmation ] 

• What is the grace of confirmation 1 
4 Is it necessary for salvation 1 

* Acts viii. 14. They (the Apostles) laid their hands 
upon them, (the Samaritans,) and they received the 
Holy Ghost. — 2 Cor, i. 21. He that confirmeth us with 
you in Christ, and he that hath anointed us, is God : 
who hath also sealed us, and given the pledge of the 
Spirit in our hearts. 

f Rom. v. 5. The charity of God is poured abroad in 
•ur hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us, 



33 



though to omit receiving it either through 
contempt or gross neglect, would be a 
mortal sin. 

III. 1 The sacraments of baptism and 
confirmation can only be received once. 
2 The reason of this is, that they confer 
upon the souls of the receivers a charac- 
ter or spiritual mark, which consecrates 
them to God, and which can never be lost. 
Baptism gives us the character of Chris- 
tians, and confirmation that of soldiers 
of Christ. Each of these characters will 
remain on the souls of the receivers for all 
eternity, to the greater happiness of the 
good, and to the greater ignominy of the 
wicked. 



CHAPTER THE EIGHTH, 

I. Penance. — II. Contrition. — III. Confession. — 
IV. Satisfaction. — V. Indulgence. 

% In the foregoing chapter we have 
seen that Jesus Christ instituted the sacra- 
ment of baptism for the purpose of cleans- 
ing our souls from the guilt of the sin 

1 Can baptism and confirmation be received mpr$ 
than once ? 

2 What is the reason T 



34 

which we inherit from our first parents, as 
well as from all sins committed before 
the receiving of that sacrament. Those 
Christians, who preserve until death their 
baptismal innocence, infallibly obtain eter- 
nal life: those who unhappily fall from that 
state, by committing mortal sin, become a 
second time objects of the divine wrath. 
Now, for every person under mortal sin, 
sincere repentance, consisting in a hearty 
sorrow for the sin or sins committed, to- 
gether with a firm purpose of amendment 
and satisfaction, or works of penance, 
always were and always will be, under all 
circumstances, indispensably necessary in 
order to recover the grace of God, and 
arrive at eternal happiness. But, when 
our divine Master established the Christian 
religion, he added to these two conditions 
a third, consisting in the declaration or 
confession of all our sins to one of his 
ministers for the purpose of receiving ab- 
solution. These three things, viz. con- 
trition, confession, and satisfaction, on the 
part of the sinner, and absolution, on the 
part of God's minister, constitute what we 
call the sacrament of penance. 1 The sa- 
prament of penance, therefore, may b§ 



1 What is the sacrament of penance f 



35 



defined, a sacrament, wherein, by contfi-* 
tion', confession, and satisfaction on the 
part of the sinner, and absolution given 
by the priest, the sins are forgiven which 
we commit after baptism. 1 In this, as 
in the other sacraments, there is a sacred 
action or ceremony, consisting in contri- 
tion, confession, and satisfaction. 2 The 
words by the minister of God, when he 
gives absolution, are: I absolve thee from 
all thy sins in the name of the Father, 
&e. 3 The only ministers of this sacra- 
ment are bishops and priests possessing 
jurisdiction. The necessity of each of the 
parts of this sacrament is not in all respects 
the same. 4 Contrition, as has been al- 
ready noticed, is, in all cases, absolutely 
necessary ; because, without it, no one 
that has committed mortal sin can possibly 
be saved. 5 As to the necessity of con- 
fession, the positive law of God requires 
that we should make a full confession at 
least of all mortal sins which we can call 
to mind by a diligent examination of con* 



1 What is the sacred action of penance 1 

2 What are the words used by the minister 1 

3 Who is the minister of this sacrament 1 

4 Is contrition in all cases absolutely necessary ? 

5 Is confession necessary ? 



science. 1 This, however, supposes that 
we have it in our power to make such 
confession: for, were a person so situated 
that he could not have recourse to a priest, 
the desire to make his confession, joined 
with perfect contrition for his sins, would 
obtain the forgiveness of them, although, 
if opportunity should afterwards serve, he 
would be obliged to confess them. 2 In 
like manner, were a person in danger of 
death to be deprived of the use of his 
Speech, a priest would give him absolution 
upon his desire of making his confession 
either expressed by signs or otherwise 
implied; and this would satisfy the law of 
God, which never requires impossibilities. 
3 Satisfaction, also, at least as to the 
will and intention of doing the penance 
enjoined in confession is an indispensable 
part of the sacrament. It is said at least 
as to the tvill and intention of doing 
the penance enjoined, because provided a 
penitent have such will and intention at 
the time of his receiving absolution, his 



1 What is necessary for a sinner to do who has not 
the opportunity of confessing his sins 1 

2 What is to be said of the case of a person who 
being in danger of death, and having lost the use of 
speechj cannot make his confession 1 

3 In what manner is satisfaction necessary ? 



37 



afterwards neglecting to perform the pe- 
nance, although it would be a mortal sin* 
Would not annul the sacrament. The three 
following sections will contain an explana- 
tion of the parts of the sacrament of 
penance which concern the sinner, viz* 
contrition, confession, and satisfaction. 

II. 1 By contrition is meant a hearty 
sorrow for sin, accompanied with a firm 
resolution of amendment. 2 Our sorrow* 
in order to satisfy the injured justice of 
God, must possess these four qualities: it 
must be internal, supernatural, sove- 
reign, and universal. 3 1st, It must be 
internal: that is, we must have a sincere 
grief in our hearts for the sins which we 
have committed. 4 2dly, It must be sm 
pernatural ; that is, our sorrow must not 
be grounded on human or natural motives: 
for example, because sin brings us to shame 
or punishment in this world, but upon 
supernatural motives dictated to lis by 
divine faith: these motives are, the injury 
which sin offers to God, who is infinitely 
good in himself and infinitely good to us, 
and the eternal punishment which it entails 

1 What is contrition ? 

2 What are the qualities of true contrition 1 

3 How must contrition be internal 1 

4 How must it be supernatural? 

4 



Upon our own souls. 1 3dly, It must be 
sovereign; that is, it must be inwardly 
greater than any other grief we can pos- 
sibly feel. 2 To be of this description, 
however, it is not necessary that it 
•should be a sensible grief, producing 
sighs and tears. It will be sovereign, 
provided we really be in our hearts 
more sorry for having displeased God, 
than for the loss of any person or thing 
however dear to us in the world, and dis- 
posed to suffer any thing, or to lose even 
our lives, rather than again offend him by 
mortal sin. 3 4thly, It must be universal; 
that is, we must detest every mortal sin 
which we have committed, without even 
excepting one ; for, as long as a person 
entertains an affection for any sin, or pre- 
fers any creature in the world to God, his 
return to him cannot be sincere. 4 In the 
definition of contrition it was also said, 
that our sorrow for sin must be accompa- 
nied w T ith a firm resolution of amend- 
ment, by which is meant, a determination 

by the grace of God, not only to avoid 



1 How must it be sovereign ? 

2 Is it requisite that our grief for sin should be sen* 
sibk ? 

3 How must it be universal ? 

4 What is a firm resolution of amendment I 



39 



sin, but likewise the occasions of it. 
Without this determination, contrition is 
false. No one can say that he is sincerely- 
sorry for having done what he is not de- 
termined to renounce for ever. 

III. 1 Confession is an accusation or 
declaration which a penitent sinner 
makes of his sins to a priest, who has 
jurisdiction over him, in order to receive 
penance and absolution. 2 Confession of 
sins is of divine institution: it is ground- 
ed upon the power which Jesus Christ 
gave to the pastors of his church, to for* 
give or to retain sins* 3 Confession, to 
be entire, must be a declaration of all the 
mortal sins, or those of which we doubt 
whether they be mortal or not, which we 
can call to mind by a diligent examination 
of conscience, together with the number 
of each and such circumstances as change 
their nature, or notably aggravate their 
■guilt 4 Wilfully to leave out a mortal 

1 What is confession ? 

2 Who instituted confession 1 

3 What are we obliged to declare in confession 1 

4 What would be the consequence of wilfully leaving 
out a mortal sin in confession ! 



* Receive ye the Holy Ghost : whose sins you shall 
forgive, they are forgiven ; and whose sins you shall 
jetain, they are retained. John xx. 22. 



40 



sin in confession would make the whole 
confession useless, and would moreover 
be a sacrilege. 1 The omission of a mortal 
sin in confession, through forge tfulness, 
does not render the confession null: in this 
case it suffices to declare the sin in the 
following confession. 2 But if the omis- 
sion were to arise from wilful ignorance, 
or from gross negligence in the examina- 
tion of conscience, it would make the con- 
fession sacrilegious. It has been said 
above, that confession is made in order 
to receive absolution from sin, for Jesus 
Christ has constituted the pastors of his 
church the judges of the consciences of 
men ; in other words, he has given to 
them the power of binding and of loosing- 
of forgiving and retaining sins. 3 But in 
conferring upon them this discretionary 
power, he has dictated rules, which they 
are bound to follow: if they deviate from 
these rules, they are themselves guilty 
of sin, and the sentence which they prcn 
nounce upon earth, will not be ratified in 



1 What if a mortal sin be omitted through forgetful* 
ness? 

2 What if it be omitted through wilful ignorance, or 
gross negligence ? 

3 Can a priest ever lawfully refuse to give absolution 
after confession 1 



41 



heaven. 1 According to these rules, they 
cannot give absolution to those whom they 
have reason to believe are not truly sorry 
for their sins, and sincerely resolved to 
avoid them for the future. Such are those 
persons, 1st, who are living in habits of 
sin; 2dly, who will not renounce the im- 
mediate occasions of sin; 3dly, who being 
at enmity with their neighbour, refuse to 
be reconciled ; 4thly, who will not restore 
the property of another when it lies in 
their power; and 5thly, who are ignorant 
of the principal truths or general duties 
of Christianity, or of the particular obliga- 
tions of their state of life. 

IV. 1 Satisfaction is the third and last 
part of the sacrament of penance, and con- 
sists in performing the jjrayers or other 
penitential works which the minister of 
God enjoins upon the sinner after he has 
made his confession. It is an article of 
the Catholic faith, that the Almighty, in 
remitting to the sinner upon his repent* 
ance the eternal punishment due to his 
sins, does not at the same time neces- 
sarily exempt him from the obligation 



1 To what sort of persons is it his duty to refun 

solution ? 

2 What is satisfaction ? 

4* 



42 



of doing penance for them. The truth 
of this doctrine is evident, not only from 
many examples in the old law, where 
\ve find the Almighty punishing men by 
temporal chastisements for sins which he 
had already pardoned them, but also from 
the gospel, where our Saviour frequently 
inculcates the necessity, not only of inter- 
nal repentance, but also of doing works of 
penance for our transgressions. 1 The per* 
formance of the penance enjoined in con-* 
fession is of strict obligation, as being 
pecessary to make the sacrament complete. 
Hence wilfully to neglect either the whole 
or a notable part of it would be a mortal sin, 
V. After treating of the sacrament of 
penance, it is proper to explain the nature 
of an indulgence. 2 Jin indulgence, then, 
|s the remission, not of sin itself, but of 
the whole or a part of the temporal 
punishment which is due to sin. Indulr 
gences are granted to us by the pastors of 
the church, on condition of the perform- 
ance of certain good works which they 
prescribe. One condition, however, either 
expressed or understood, always is, that of 



1 Are we strictly bound to perform the penance givtn 
in confession 1 

3 What is an indulgence $ 



43 



sincere repentance for our sins, because 
sin itself must necessarily be forgiven by- 
Almighty God before we can obtain the 
pardon of the temporal punishment which 
it deserves. 1 Of indulgences some are 
called plenary, others partial induU 
gences. plenary indulgence is the 
remission in the sight of God of all the 
temporal punishment due to sin: 3 jlpar* 
Hal indulgence is the remission in the 
sight of God of a part only of the said 
temporal punishment. 

4 There is also a plenary indulgence 
which we call a jubilee, which does not 
differ materially from that already ex- 
plained, except in its greater solemnity, 
in being granted by the supreme head of 
the church, to all the faithful through- 
out the world every twenty-five years. 

* Indulgences, as it has been already no- 
ticed, are always granted upon the condU 
tion of performing certain good works* 

* In order to obtain the benefit of them the 
conditions must be faithfully observed, 



1 How many kinds of indulgences are there I 
? What is a plenary indulgence P 
8 What is & partial indulgence ? 
« What is a jubilee ? 

* Upon what conditions are indulgences granted 1 
s Is it necessary to comply with the conditions 1 



44 



* The authority of the pastors of the church 
to grant indulgences, rests upon the com^ 
mission given to them by Jesus Christ to 
bind and to loose. 2 The efficacy of in^ 
dulgences arises from the application to 
our souls of the infinite merits of what 
Jesus Christ has suffered, both in his own 
divine person and in those of his mem- 
bers, the martyrs and others his faithful 
servants; for, by these sufferings, he has 
fully purchased the pardon, not only of 
our sins themselves, but of the temporal 
punishment due to them. 3 It must, how- 
ever, be remarked, that in granting indul- 
gence?, the church does not pretend to 
exempt sinners from the obligation of 
doing penance. Were such her pre- 
tensions, indulgences, so far from being 
salutary, would be pernicious. The gos- 
pel proclaims to all sinners the neces- 
sity of bringing forth worthy fruits of 
penance, and, consequently, the church 
cannot annul that obligation. 4 When, 



1 How have the pastors of the church the power to 
grant indulgences ? 

2 How do indulgences produce their effect ? 

3 Do indulgences exempt sinners from all obligation 
of doing penance for their sins 1 

4 What is the design of the church in granting in- 
dulgences | 



therefore, she grants indulgences, her de- 
sign is to recompense the fervour and 
zeal with which we undergo our peniten- 
tial labours, and to supply the deficiencies 
arising from our weakness and inability, 
Hence no sinner should cease from doing 
penance as long as he lives ; 1 and it is 
chiefly after death, that he is to look for 
the benefit of the indulgences which he 
has gained, in being released by them 
from the sufferings of purgatory. 



CHAPTER THE NINTH. 

I. Holy Eucharist as a Sacrament. — IL Holy 
Eucharist as a Sacrifice, 

I. 2 The holy eucharist is the true 
body and blood of Jesus Christ, under 
the appearances of bread and wine. 3 Jt 
is, and always has been, the faith and doc* 
trine of the Catholic Church concerning 
this sacrament, that, by the words of con- 
secration pronounced by the priests of the 



1 When are we chiefly to look for the benefit of in- 
dulgences 1 

2 What is the holy eucharist ? 

* What is precisely the faith of the Catholic Church 
concerning it 1 



46 



church in the mass, bread is changed into 
the body of Christ and wine into his 
blood, yet so that he is present whole and 
entire, both body and blood, soul and 
divinity, under the appearance either of 
bread or of wine. 1 Hence in receiving this 
adorable sacrament under the form either 
of bread or of wine, we receive Jesus Christ 
whole and entire, that is. the second per- 
son of the blessed Trinity in our human 
nature. 2 The conversion or change of 
bread and wine into the body and blood 
of Christ is called transubstantiation. 
No article of the Catholic faith is more 
firmly grounded on the authority of the 
written word of God than this is, To 
enter into a detail of the many arguments 
which support this belief, and a refutation 
of the objections which our adversaries 
urge against it, would extend this little 
work much beyond its intended limits. 
Let it, therefore, suffice to state, that no- 
thing can be more decidedly in its favour 
than the accounts which the evangelists 
St. Matthew. St. -Mark, and St. Luke give 



1 Is Jesus Christ received whole and entire undep 
either kind ? 

2 What do we call the change of bread and wine into 

the body and blood of Christ ! 



41 



in their respective gospels, in nearly the 
sam£ words, of its institution. 1 The ac- 
count given by St. Matthew is as follows: 
Whilst they were at supper Jesus took 
bread and blessed and broke and gave 
to his disciples, and said ; take ye and 
eat, this is my body. And, taking the 
chalice, he gave thanks and gave to 
them, saying drink ye all of this, for 
this is my blood of the new testament, 
Which shall be shed for many for the 
remission of sins* 2 In this, as in the 
other sacraments, there is an outward 
action performed, consisting in the conse- 
cration of bread and wine into Christ's 
body and blood by the words which he 
ordained, this is my body ; this is my 
blood. 3 The minister of this sacrament 
is a bishop or a priest. 4 It was instituted 
by our divine Saviour to be the food of 
oar souls. Hence as corporal nourish- 
ment supports the life of our bodies, so the 



1 How do you prove from Scripture that in the holy 
eucharist we receive the true body of Christ ? 

2 What is the outward ceremony of the holy 
eucharist ! 

3 Who is the minister of it 1 

4 What is the grace that it gives ] 



* Matt, sxvi, 26— 28, 



48 

Worthy participation of the spiritual food 
of the holy eucharist maintains the life of 
our souls, by preserving them in the state 
of grace. 1 To receive the blessed sacra- 
ment in the state of mortal sin is a most 
grievous sacrilege. In the language of 
St. Paul, the unworthy receiver is guilty 
of the body and blood of his Lord, and 
receives his own damnation.* 2 The re- 
ceiving of the holy eucharist is not neces- 
sary for salvation; although it is a divine 
precept that those who are of a sufficient 
age to understand the nature of this sacra- 
ment should receive it: consequently, no 
one that has come to the years of discre- 
tion can neglect it, without incurring the 
guilt of mortal sin. The blessed eucharist 
is a permanent sacrament, because, when 
the words of consecration are pronounced 
over the bread and wine, they not only 
become the body and blood of Christ, but 
he also continues to be present as long as 
the species of bread and wine remain. 
* Hence it is customary to preserve the 



1 What is the crime of receiving unworthily ? 

2 Is the holy eucharist necessary for salvation % 

3 Why is the holy sacrament preserved in our taber- 
nacles? 



* 1 Cor. xi. 29, 



49 



holy sacrament in our tabernacles, as Well 
for the purpose of being always at hand 
to be received by the faithful, as that we 
may give divine homage to our Saviour 
in that sacrament 1 It is to him, ag truly 
present in the tabernacle, that we bend our 
knee when we pass before it. 2 It has 
likewise been the custom of the church in 
all ages to give benediction to the faithful 
with the blessed sacrament. On these tic*" 
casions it is exposed to public veneratiorij 
while the choir sings certain appropriate 
hymns. At the conclusion, the officiating 
priest, taking into his hands the remon- 
strance containing the holy sacrament, and 
turning towards the congregation, makes 
the sign of the cross, during which the 
people bow their heads to receive the 
blessing of Christ. 

II. The holy eucharist is not only a 
sacrament, wherein Jesus Christ commu- 
nicates himself to us and to feed and 
nourish our souls, and to enable us to per- 
form our Christian duties; 3 it is, more* 
over, a sacrifice, or an offering made to 



1 To what do we bend our knee when we pass before 
the tabernacle 1 

2 What is the ceremony of benediction ? 

3 What is the holy eucharist besides a sacrament ? 

5 



Almighty God of the body and blood of 
Christ. 1 The word sacrifice means an 
offering made by a laivful minister of 
some sensible thing to the Almighty, ac- 
companied by a destruction or change 
of the thing offered, in acknowledgment 
of his being the sovereign Lord of all 
things. 3 From the very beginning of 
the world it was customary with all nations 
to make some offering to God. In the 
book of Genesis we read of the sacrifices 
of Cain and Abel; of the sacrifice which j 
Noah offered when he came out of the ark; ! 
as well as that offered by the prince of 
Salem, Melchisedech, who was also a priest ! 
of the Most High, in bread and wine. In \ 
the written law which God gave to Moses, 
he instituted particular sacrifices, and, 
moreover, ordained that Aaron and his 
family should be the perpetual priests or \ 
offerers of them. In after time, a temple 
Was built, agreeable to the command of 
God, by king Solomon, for the sole pur- 
pose of offering therein the sacrifices pre- 
scribed in the law of 'Moses. 3 These 



1 What is meant by a sacrifice ? 

2 Were sacrifices offered before the coming of Christ? 

3 How many kinds of sacrifices were offered in the 
old law 1 



51 



sacrifices of the old law were of different 
sorts: some were bloody sacrifices, in 
which animals were laid upon an altar and 
slain : others were unbloody, in which 
there was no shedding of blood. 1 It must 
also be remarked that they were always 
offered for one, of these four intentions: 
either, 1st, for the honour and glory of 
God, or 2dly, to thank him for benefits 
received, or 3dly, the forgiveness of sins, 
or 4thly,to obtain some particular graces 
or blessings. But, for whichever of these 
ends they might have been offered, they 
were always considered as acts of divine 
worship, which could be paid to no other 
than the Deity himself, without the crime 
of idolatry. 2 The sacrifices of which we 
are treating, when accompanied with proper 
dispositions of the heart, were pleasing to 
God, not on account of any virtue which 
they possessed in themselves, for as Saint 
Paul says, it is impossible that by the 
blood of oxen or of goats sins should 
be taken away* but because they ivere 
figures of the great sacrifice which was 



1 For what intentions were they offered ? 

2 What made those sacrifices pleasing to God ? 



* Heb. x. 4. 



52 



afterwards to be offered by the Son of 
God Jesus Christ, on the cross. So that 
if the sacrifices of the old law gave honour 
and glory to God, if they were accepted 
in return for benefits conferred upon the 
offerers, if through them God granted the 
forgivness of sin or other favours that 
were asked, it was solely in consideration 
of the sacrifice which was afterwards to be 
pffered upon the cross by Jesus Christ, 
who by his death gave true honour and 
glory to God, full thanksgiving for all the 
benefits which he has ever bestowed or 
ever will bestow upon his creatures, and 
also ordained the forgiveness of the sins 
of all mankind, and merited for them all 
jthe blessings which God ever had bestow- 
ed, or ever would bestow upon them. — 
I From this it is evident that, ivhen Jesus 
Christ had offered himself in sacrifice, 
the offerings ordained in the law of Moses 
could no longer be acceptable to the Al- 
mighty; because the figure must be use-? 
less when the reality has taken place. 
# Still, however, the Almighty has not left 
his creatures without a sacrifice; on the 



1 When did they cease to be acceptable to God ? 

2 Did the Almighty foretell in the old law that he 
Should establish a sacrifice in the new ? 



i 



53 



1 



contrary he foretold in the old law, 
by the voice of the prophet Malachy, 
that when the Jewish sacrifices should be 
abolished, there should be offered to his 
name, in every part of the earth, a clean 
oblation.* 1 This prediction was fulfilled 
by Jesus Christ after his last supper, 
when he offered his own body and blood 
to his eternal Father, and commanded the 
priests of his church to do the same in 
commemoration of him. 2 This then is 
the clean oblation, the great sacrifice of the 
new law, which we call the Mass, and is 
daily offered, as was foretold, upon thou? 
sands of altars throughout the world. 3 It 
may be defined, the sacrifice of the body 
and blood of Christ under the appear* 
ance of bread and wine. 4 The mass, 
therefore, is in substance the same sacrifice 
with that of the cross, because in both the 
offering is the same, namely, the body 
and blood of Christ, and is made by the 
same person^ that is, Christ himself, who 



1 When was that prediction fulfilled? 

7 What do we call the sacrifice of the new lawl 

3 What is the mass ? 

4 Is the mass a distinct sacrifice from that of the 
£?P SS ? 



* Malac, 

3* 



54 

in the mass is the true, though invisible, 
chief priest offering himself by the hands 
of his visible minister the priest. 1 The 
only difference between the one and the 
other is in the manner of offering. On 
the cross Christ died really, because his 
body was really broken and his blood 
was really shed: in the mass his death 
is only mystically represented by the se- 
parate consecration of bread into his body 
and of wine into his blood: the former, 
therefore, was a bloody, the latter is an 
unbloody, sacrifice. Hence, we are not 
to suppose that the mass is a distinct sacri- 
fice from that of the cross, or is designed 
to supply any defect in it. It is a memo- 
rial, a renewal, and a continuation of that 
£elf same sacrifice. 2 We believe it to 
have been instituted by our divine Saviour, 
that we might daily celebrate the memory 
of his sufferings upon the cross, and apply 
them to the four great ends of sacrifice, 
that is, 1st, to the honour and glory of 
God: 2dly, in thanksgiving to him for 
all his benefits: 3dly, to obtain the par- 
don of our sins : and 4thly, to obtain all 



1 What is the difference between the one and the 
other 1 

2 Yfhy was the mass established ? 



55 

graces and blessings both for ourselves 
and all others, whether living or dead. 

1 The essence of this sacrifice consists in 
the consecration of bread and wine into 
Christ's body and blood, which takes place 
about the middle, and the communion, 
which occurs towards the end of the mass. 

2 The other prayers and ceremonies, used 
in the mass, though not necessary parts of 
the sacrifice, have been ordained, most of 
them by the apostles themselves, or by 
their immediate successors, for the greater 
solemnity of the divine worship, and that 
the faithful might devote time to interior 
f devotion, which must ever accompany our 
external worship, to render it acceptable ta 
God. 3 The ceremonies of the mass are, 
(ox the most part, of mysterious signifi- 
cation. Altogether they may be consi- 
dered as a most sacred and solemn tragedy, 
representing the passion and death of 
Christ. 4 Christ himself, who is the 
High Priest of the new law, is personated 



1 In what does the essential part of the sacrifice 
consist 1 

2 Are all the prayers and ceremonies of the mass 
necessary parts of the sacrifice ] 

3 What is signified by the ceremonies used in the 
mass 1 

4 Whom does the priest represent ] 



56 



by the priest. 1 The vestments represent 
the ignominious clothing worn by our 
divine Saviour, during his passion. 2 The 
altar with the crucifix upon it is a re^ 
presentation of Mount Calvary. 3 The 
lighted candles upon the altar are emblems 
of the light of faith and of the fire of 
divine charity, which ought ever to ani- 
mate our external worship. 4 A bell is 
rung at the beginning of the canon, at the 
elevation, and the communion, to excite 
the attention and devotion of the faith- 
ful, by reminding them of those more 
solemn parts of the divine service. 5 The 
use of the Latin language in the celebrar 
tion of the mass is for the greater unu 
formity of the external part of religion, 
because, being a dead language, it is not 
liable to change. 6 Neither is the practice 
attended with any inconvenience to the 
faithful, who do not understand Latin, be- 
cause, by the instructions which they re- 
ceive from their pastors, they know that 
the value of the mass consists, not in the 



1 What do the priest's vestments represent 1 

2 Of what is the altar a representation ? 

3 What is the meaning of the lighted candles ? 

4 Why is the bell rung at different parts of the mass 1 

5 Why is the mass said in Latin ? 

6 Is not this inconvenient to the faithful! 



57 



prayers, but in the oblation which the 
priest, as minister of God, offers to him; 
and, moreover, they have the mass trans- 
lated and the ceremonies of it explained 
in their prayer books. 



CHAPTER THE TENTH. 

I. Extreme Unction, 

I. Jesus Christ in his tender solicitude 
for those souls whom he has bought with 
the price of his sacred blood, has been 
pleased, not only to institute the sacrament 
of baptism to cleanse us from original 
sin, confirmation to fortify our souls with 
the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, 
penance to remit the sins which we fall 
into after baptism, and the holy eucharist 
to be the food of our souls during our 
sojourning in this life, but also another 
sacrament to help us at that most important 
hour on which eternity depends — the hour 
of death. 1 This sacrament we call extreme 
unction, which may be denned, the last 
sacrament given to persons who are in 
danger of death by sickness, to help them 



* What is extreme unction f 



58 

to die well. 1 The outward ceremony 
thereof is the anointing of the eyes, the 
ears, the nostrils, the mouth, the hands 
and the feet of those who are in danger 
of death by sickness; with oil blessed by 
a bishop. The words which accompany 
the different anointings are a prayer, beg- 
ging of God, in his infinite mercy, to for- 
give them the sins which they have com- 
mitted by any of those senses or members. 
2 The effects of extreme unction are vari- 
ous, according to the necessities of the 
receiver. It is intended to cleanse the 
soul from the relics of sin; it gives grace 
and strength to support with patience the 
pains and inconveniences of sickness ; it 
enables the sick person to resist the temp- 
tations of the devil, which during sick- 
ness are often more violent than at other 
times ; and, when it is expedient for the 
good of the soul, it restores the sick per- 
son to health. 3 The only minister of 
this sacrament is a bishop or a priest. 4 It 
is not absolutely necessary for salvation, 
but no one that is in moral danger of death 

1 What are the outward ceremony and the words used 
in this sacrament 1 

2 What are its effects ? 

3 Who is the minister of this sacrament 1 

4 Is it necessary for salvation 7 3 



59 

by sickness can refuse to receive it, with- 
out being guilty of contempt of the grace 
of God, and consequently of mortal sin. 
*A11 that relates to extreme unction, we 
gather from the catholic epistle of St. 
James,* and from the constant tradition 
and practice of the church in all ages. 



CHAPTER THE ELEVENTH. 

L Holy Orders. 

I. 2 Holy orde?*s is a sacrament, where^ 
by bishops, priests, and all others em- 
ployed in the different offices of the 
sacred ministry are ordained. 3 The 
outward ceremony of this sacrament is the 
imposition of a bishop's hands, which, 
as in the other sacraments, is accompanied 

1 How do you prove that extreme unction is a sacra- 
ment ? 

2 What is holy orders 1 

3 What is the outward ceremony ? 



* St. James v. 15. Is any one sick among you, let 
them bring in the priests of the church, and let them 
pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of 
the Lord ; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick 
man, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he be in* 
sins, they shall be forgiven him. 



60 

by prayer, to which may be added other 
ceremonies, which, although regarded as 
essential to the sacrament, it is unnecessary 
in a work like the present to notice. 1 A 
bishop is the only minister of holy orders. 

2 The effect of this sacrament is, a poiver 
to enable those w 7 ho are ordained to per- 
form the duties of the order which they 
receive, and grace to perform them well. 

3 There are in number seven orders : 1st, 
that of porter ; 2d, of lector ; 3d, of exor- 
cist ; 4th, of acolythist ; 5th, of sub- 
deacon; 6th, of deacon; and 7th, of 
priest. The first four are called minor 
orders : the other three greater, or holy 
orders. The former, as also probably the 
order of sub-deacon, are of ecclesiastical, 
the other two are of divine institution 

4 It must, however, be observed, that the 
priesthood is divided into two distinct 
classes : 1st, that of priests ; and 2d, that 
of bishops. 5 The power and grace, which 
priests receive by ordination, is, to offer 



1 Who is the minister of it 1 

2 What are its effects P 

2 How many orders are there, and what are they 
called] 

4 Which are the two classes of the priesthood ? 

5 What is the poiver and grace which priests receive 
by ordination 1 



the sacrifice of the mass, to administer 
the sacraments, and to preach the word 
of God to those committed to their charge. 
1 Bishops, by their consecration, are ap- 
pointed to rule the church of God ; that 
is, the portion of it which falls within 
their jurisdiction, and which is called a 
diocese. 2 Hence they have, by divine 
right, spiritual authority over all the 
priests as well as the faithful of their 
respective dioceses. The office, also, is to 
ordain other bishops, priests, &c, and to 
administer the sacrament of confirmation. 
3 The pope is not, by ordination, of a higher 
order than other bishops; but by the ap- 
pointment given by Christ to St. Peter 
and his successors, he has spiritual juris- 
diction over all bishops and the faithful 
throughout the world; that is, he is the 
head of the catholic church. 



1 What power do bishops receive 1 

2 Is the power of bishops of divine institution P 

3 How is the pope superior to other bishops 1 



6 



62 

CHAPTER THE TWELFTrf. 

I. Matrimony. 

L 1 The natural contract of matrimo- 
ny was originally instituted by the Al- 
mighty between our first parents in pa- 
radise, for the propagation of mankind. 
2 But when Jesus Christ came into the 
world, he raised the contract of matrimony 
to the dignity of a sacrament. Such is 
the doctrine of St. Paul, who calls it a sa- 
crament, and says that it represents the 
union which subsists between Christ and 
his church;* such also has ever been the 
faith of the catholic church. 3 The out- 
ward ceremony of matrimony is the law- 
ful engagement entered into between a 
man and a woman, to live together as 
husband and wife, until they become sepa- 
rated by death. This mutual engagement 
is then ratified by a priest in these words: 
I join you together in matrimony ^ in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son^ 

1 When was matrimony instituted? 

2 Is matrimony a sacrament ? 

3 What is the outward ceremony ? 



* Ephesians v. 32. This is a great sacrament, f 
ipeak in Christ and in his church* 

I 



63 

and of the Holy Ghost, 1 The grace 
which the married couple receive by this 
sacrament is, to live together in union , 
peace, and love, to preserve inviolable 
fidelity towards each other, and to bring 
up their children in a Christian man- 
ner. 2 Marriage, when it has been con- 
summated, cannot be dissolved by any 
power upon earth; for although, for some 
weighty cause, separation between the par- 
ties may be lawful, yet nothing but the 
death of one can render it allowable to the 
other to marry a second time. 



CHAPTER THE THIRTEENTH. 

I. Death of Christ. — II. His resurrection qnd 

ascension. 

I. Jesus Christ having, as we have seen 
in the foregoing chapters, spent the three 
last years of his mortal life in founding 
the Christian religion, and delivering many 
sublime precepts of morality, relating to 
the evil which we are to avoid and the 
good which we are to practise, (which will 



\ What is the grace of matrimony ? 

2 Can the bond of marriage be dissolved ? 



9 

$1 



64 



form the subject of the second part of this 
treatise,) nothing was now wanting to the 
accomplishment of the work for which he 
came into the world, but to lay down his 
life, in order to repair the injury done to 
God by our sins, and to purchase our re- 
demption. 1 We learn accordingly in the 
gospel, that, in order to accomplish this 
great and merciful design, he suffered him- 
self to be betrayed by Judas Iscariot, one 
of his chosen apostles, into the hands of 
the Jewish rabble, who, 2 at the instigation 
of a set of proud and jealous men, called 
Pharisees, sought to procure his death. 
Without being able to discover any crime 
which he had committed, and forgetful of 
the numberless miracles which he had 
wrought in their favour, they demanded 
from Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor 
of Judea, his death, and a death, too, the 
most cruel and ignominious which their 
malice could invent, that of the cross. 
3 Pilate was induced to pass sentence upon 
him. His enemies, having treated him 
with every kind of outrage and indignity, 
in scourging him whilst fastened to a piU 



1 Who "betrayed Jesus Christ 1 

2 Who were they that sought his death ? 

3 Whp condemned him ? 



65 



lar, placing a thorny crown upon his head, 
clothing him in derision with a purple 
garment, spitting in his face, and using 
many other barbarities, loaded him with a 
heavy cross, and compelled him to carry 
it to Mount Calvary, the common place 
of execution; 1 there they nailed his sa- 
cred body to the cross, and suffered him 
to remain upon it till he expired. 9 His 
body was then taken down by his disci- 
ples and placed, in a monument: 3 but 
his soul descended into that pari of hell 
called Limbo, whither he went, as we are 
informed by St. Peter, to announce to the 
souls there detained, that the happy hour 
of their deliverance and assumption into 
heaven was at hand.* 

II. 4 On the third day after his death 
and burial, his soul and body were re- 
united, and he rose again to a new life 
never to die any more. Jesus during his 
mortal life had foretold to his apostles that 
he should rise again, and that that miracle 
would be a proof of his divinity, and, 

1 What death did he suffer 1 

2 What became of his body after death 1 

3 Whither did his soul go 1 

4 When did he rise again P 



* 1 Peter iii. 19,20. 

6* 



66 



therefore, 1 after his resurrection he was 
pleased to remain upon earth for the space 
of forty days, in order to confirm their 
faith in this primary article of the Chris- 
tian religion, and to enable them to bear 
testimony to the same throughout the 
world. 2 The fortieth day being arrived, 
he took his apostles out with him to Mount 
Olivet, where he gave them his blessing, 
and then ascended into heaven. Thus was 
heaven, which had been closed against all 
mankind by the sin of our first parents, 
opened again, and Jesus presented to his 
eternal Father, as the first fruits of his 
victory over sin and death, the souls of 
the just which had been detained in Limbo. 



CHAPTER THE FOURTEENTH, 

I. Descent of the Holy Ghost. — II. Preaching of 
the apostles. — -III. State of the church until the 
present time. 

I. 3 Whilst our divine Saviour was 
upon earth, he promised his apostles, that 

* How long did he remain on earth after his resur- 
rection 1 

2 Whither did he then go ? 

3 Why did Christ promise his apostle* to sen4 down 
ihi Holy Ghost upon them 1 



6 7 



when he" ascended into heaven, he would 
send down upon them the Holy Ghost, the 
third person of the blessed Trinity, to en- 
lighten their minds to a clear under- 
standing of all the truths of religion, to 
inflame their hearts w T ith divine charity, 
to give them zeal, strength, arid courage 
to surmount all the obstacles which they 
would have to encounter in the propaga- 
tion of the gospel, and also to give them 
the power of speaking in unknown tongues, 
and working all sorts of miracles. He had 
told them, also, that they were to remain 
together in Jerusalem in expectation of the 
coming of the Holy Ghost. 1 In obedience 
to his command, they went intc retire- 
ment, chiefly occupying themselves in 
prayer by way of preparation for receivj- 
ing these promised gifts. 2 On the tenth 
day after the ascension of Jesus Christ, 
that is, on Whitsunday ', the very day on 
which the Jews celebrated the annual fes- 
tival of pentecost, 3 whilst they were all 
assembled together in prayer, they sud- 
denly heard a noise as of a mighty wind 

1 How did they prepare for his coming T 

2 On what day did the Holy Ghost come $prn upon 

them 1 

3 In what manner did he come 1 



68 

which filled the whole house. Immedi- 
ately after, there appeared over the heads 
of each of them parted tongues of fire ^ 
and they were at the same time filled with 
the Holy Ghost. 1 The gifts and graces 
thus communicated to them were not in- 
tended merely for themselves, but mere 
designed to continue in the church till 
the end of time. Some of these gifts 
were ordinary/, others extraordinary. 
% The ordinary gifts are those internal 
graces communicated to every Christian, 
that receives worthily the sacrament, of con- 
firmation. 3 The extraordinary gifts of 
the Holy Ghost are, the power of speaking 
in unknown tongues, and of working 
miracles. These gifts having been more 
necessary in the infancy of the church, 
were then more common than now; but 
the Almighty has in all ages granted and 
still continues to grant them, whenever he 
sees them expedient for the accomplish- 
ment of his merciful designs, of bringing 
unbelievers to the knowledge of the true 
faith. 

! Were the gifts of the Holy Ghost intended for the 

apostks only ? 

2 What are the ordinary gifts ? 

3 What are the extraordinary gifts £ 



69 



II. * No sooner had the apostles received 
the Holy Ghost than they boldly went 
forth into the city of Jerusalem, and 
preached to the assembled multitude the 
religion of Christ who had been crucified* 
By the gift of tongues they made them- 
selves understood by persons of diverse 
nations, who all seemed to hear them 
speaking in their respective languages. 
2 The effect of St. Peter's first sermon was 
the conversion of three thousand Jews: 
by another sermon five thousand were 
converted, and the number of believers 
daily increased. 3 However, according to 
the prediction of the ancient prophets, the 
greater part of the Jewish nation re- 
mained obstinate and incredulous, and 
raised a cruel persecution against the apos- 
tles and their disciples. 4 In punishment 
of their incredulity, they were abandoned 
by the Almighty to blindness and hard- 
ness of heart. Thirty-eight years from 
the ascension of our Lord, their city was 
taken, pillaged, and destroyed by the Ro- 
mans; their temple was levelled with the 

1 What did the apostles do as soon as they received 
the Holy Ghost] 

2 What was the effect of St. Peter's first sermon ? 

3 Were the generality of the Jews converted ? 

4 What was the punishment of their unbelief ? 



70 

ground; numbers of them were put to the 
sword; and those who escaped were dis- 
persed throughout the world. Their pos^ 
terity still subsist as a distinct people, 
although they have neither king nor coun- 
try, carrying about with them the visible 
marks of divine reprobation. 1 When the 
apostles became rejected and persecuted 
by the Jews, they turned their labours 
towards the conversion of the Samari- 
tans. % The Samaritans were originally a 
part of the Jewish nation, composing ten 
out of the twelve t7*ibes of Israel, but had 
separated themselves from the Jeivs, and 
formed a distinct nation. 3 Many of these, 
we are informed, received the tidings of 
the gospel with joy, and ivere converted; 
those who remained unfaithful were in- 
volved in the same calamities as the Jews. 
4 . The time now arrived when the gospel 
was to be announced to the other nations 
of the earth, 5 when God added another to 
the number of his apostles, in the person 



* What did the apostles do when they were rejected 
by the Jews ? 

2 Who were the Samaritans ? 

8 What effect had the preaching of the gospel upon 
them 1 

4 To whom was the gospel next preached 1 

5 Who was St Paul? 



71 



of St. Paul, who, from a persecutor of 
the church, became a preacher of the gos- 
pel, and from his extraordinary labours in 
the propagation of it is called the apostle 
and doctor of the Gentiles. 1 Great was 
the fruit which sprung from the preach- 
ing and labours of the apostles. Although 
of themselves they were weak and illite- 
rate men, and totally void of all human 
means of success in their arduous enter- 
prise, wherever they went, the idols of the 
Gentiles were destroyed, and the religion 
of Jesus was planted on their ruins. 
* This success of the apostles brought upon 
them severe persecutions from the empe- 
rors and princes of the earth, until they at 
length fell victims to the fury and ma- 
lice of their enemies. Thus they became 
martyrs to the faith of their crucified mas- 
ter: their blood bore testimony to the truth 
of what they announced, and the religion 
of Christ flourished by their deaths; 

III. 3 Eighteen centuries have now 
elapsed since the foundation of the Chris- 



What was the general effect of the labours of th© 
apostles'? 

2 How did they end their lives ? 

3 How long is it since the foundation of the Christian 
fchurch 1 



12 



tian church. 1 For the space of three 
hundred years the faithful had to sustain 
almost uninterrupted persecution, and the 
earth was inundated with the blood of mar- 
tyrs. 2 At length, however, the Almighty- 
was pleased to give peace to his church, 
by the conversion of the Roman emperor 
Constantine. 3 After this the tranquillity 
of the church was for a short time dis- 
turbed by the nephew of Constantine, 
Julian the apostate. The Christians 
of the east were also cruelly persecuted 
for the space of nearly forty years by Sa~ 
port, king of Persia. 4 From that time 
until the present, the true believers have, 
almost in every age, had to undergo per- 
secution in a greater or less degree either 
from infidels, Jews, or false Christians. 
Nothing, however, has more disturbed the 
peace of the church, than those among her 
own children, who, from time to time, 
have impugned her authority, introduced 
false doctrine, and supported it by contort- 
ing the holy Scriptures. These combats 
began with the very commencement of 



1 How fong did it suffer persecution 1 

2 How was it restored to peace ? 

3 How was its peace afterwards disturbed ? 

4 Wfeat has been its condition tsom then till now 2 



73 

Christianity; they exist at the present day,* 
and will continue until the end of time. 
1 Still they are not without their advan- 
tages; the Almighty makes them all con- 
cur to the glory and welfare of his 
church: they strengthen the faith, exer* 
cise the patience and charity, and promote 
the sanetification of his elect* 

/ _ \ 

CHAPTER THE FIFTEENTH* 

1. Death, — -II. Particular judgment after death*—* 
III. State of departed souls before the last day 4 

I. 2 Jesus Christ founded the spiritual 
kingdom of his church upon earth, in or- 
der to bring all who believe in him and 
obey his laws to an eternal kingdom 
prepared for them in heaven. 3 To this 
happiness, however, no one can attain 
without first passing through the gates of 
death. 4 Death is the separation of th& 
soul and body, and is an inevitable punish- 
ment entailed upon all the posterity of 
Adam. 



1 Why does God let his church suffer persecution f 

2 What awaits the true followers of Christ hereafter # 
s ^hat is necessary before that happiness can b# 

attained 1 

What is death f 

1 



11 J No sooner does the soul of each 
one leave the body, than it instantly 
appears before Jesus Christ, the judge 
of the living and the dead, to render an 
account of the good or evil it has done 
during this life. 2 This account is exacted 
with the greatest rigour, and consists of 
the sinsit has committed either in thought, 
word, or deed; of the sins it has caused 
others to commit; and of those of which 
it may be guilty by the omission of its 
general or particular duties. 3 The rule 
by which the soul is tried, is no other thad 
the eternal truth of God, delivered to us 
in his gospel, or by the pastors of his 
church. 

III. 4 After this particular judgment, the 
soul of each one receives immediate sen- 
tence of reward or punishment, accord- 
ing to its deserts. 5 Those who pass out of 
this life entirely free from all the stains 
of sin go to heaven ; 6 those who die under 
the guilt of lesser sins, or without having 
made full satisfaction for greater crimes of 



1 Whither does the soul go after if leaves the body T 

2 Of what will it have to give an account? 

3 By what rule will it be tried ? 

4 What happens after the particular judgment ? 

5 What souls go to heaven ? 

5 What souls go to purgatory £ 



75 



which they had repented, go to purgatory $ 
1 and those who, at the hour of death, are 
surprised in mortal sin, are condemned 
to hell. 



CHAPTER THE SIXTEENTH. 

I. The end of the world. — II. Antichrist. — III. Enoch 
and Elias, and the conversion of the Jews. 

I. 2 The time will come when this world 
will have an end, although it has never 
been revealed by the Almighty to man 
when that time is to arrive. 3 All that he 
has been pleased to let us know concerning 
it is, that it ivill be preceded by famines, 
earthquakes, and revolutions of the sea* 
sons and the elements, and that it will be 
shortly after the gospel has been preached 
to the whole world. 

II. 4 A short time before the close of the 
world Antichrist will make his appearance 
upon earth. He will be a man of the 
greatest wickedness, and will be supported 
by a numerous army of followers. He will 



1 What souls go to hell ? 

2 Will the world have an end ? 

3 What signs will precede the end of the world 1 

* What do the Scriptures foretell about Antichrist ? 



76 



perform false miracles, and will try tQ 
make himself pass for the true Messias, 
or Redeemer of the world. Hence he will 
raise a more violent and bloody persecu* 
tion against the church of Christ than any 
which it has yet had to sustain, and many 
will yield under his persecution. The 
Almighty, however, for the sake of hia 
jeleet, will only suffer his reign to be of 
short duration. 

III. 1 We read, in the Old Testament, 
(hat the patriarch Enoch and the prophet 
Elias were taken from amongst men with^ 
out dying. These will again appear vpon 
earthy towards the end of the world, to 
preach to the Jews, who will be convert- 
ed by them, and to oppose Antichrist, by 
whom they will ultimately be put to death. 
Then will Antichrist himself be immedi- 
ately confounded by Jesus Christ, who 
will destroy him by the splendour of his 
presence. 



i What is foretold concerning the coming of Enoch 



77 



CHAPTER THE SEVENTEENTH. 

I. General resurrection. — II. Last coming of Jesus 
Christ, and the general judgment. 

I. 1 The reign of Antichrist being ter- 
minated, an angel of heaven, at the com- 
mand of God, will sound a trumpet, when, 
in an instant, the bodies of all the dead 
will arise from their graves, and will 
again be united to their souls. The 
condition of the bodies of the just and of 
those of the reprobate will be very differ- 
ent. 2 Those of the just will arise beau- 
tiful and resplendent : they will become 
spiritualized, like the body of our Saviour 
after his resurrection, which entered into 
the room where his apostles were assent 
bled without the door being opened: they 
will also be impassible, that is, incapable 
of suffering. 3 The bodies of the wicked, 
on the other hand, will be marked with 
sin and reprobation, which will render 
them hideous and frightful to behold. 

II. 4 On the day decreed for the general 
judgment of the world, the sun and moon 

1 What will follow the end of the reign of Antichrist 1 

2 In what state will the bodies of the just arise 1 

3 What will be the state of those of the wicked ? 
* What will come to pass at the last day ? 



r8 

will be darkened, the stars will fall from 
their places, all nature will be thrown into 
confusion, the heavens and the earth will 
be consumed by fire, 1 and all mankind, 
being assembled together, will behold 
Jesus Christ descending in the clouds 
of heaven with great power and majesty, 
accompanied by all the legions of angels. 
The cross will be borne before him in 
triumph, and he will sit down upon a 
throne to judge mankind. Then will 
the conduct of the Almighty towards his 
creatures be publicly justified; his mercy 
to the elect will be clearly manifested, and 
the justice of his dealings w r ith sinners 
vindipated. After this he will send forth 
his angels, who will instantly separate the 
wicked from the just; the former they will 
arrange on his left hand, and the latter on 
his right. The separation being made, he 
will arise from his throne and pronounce 
upon these two companies their respective 
sentences. 2 To the just he will say: — 
Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess 
the kingdom which was prepared for you 
from the beginning of the world; 3 and to 



1 How will the judge appear / 

* What will he «ay to the just ? 

* What will he say to the ivkked ? 



19 



the wicked, Go, ye cursed, into everlast- 
ing fire, which was prepared for the devil 
and his angels. 1 These two companies 
will then part from each other, never again 
to meet: the reprobate will be hurried by 
the devil and his angels into hell, to suffer 
both in soul and body everlasting torments, 
and the elect will be translated both body 
and soul to paradise, to enjoy with Jesus 
Christ and his angels everlasting life.* 



CHAPTER THE EIGHTEENTH. 

I. The happiness of the elect. — II. The torments of 
the wicked, 

I. The apostle assures us,t that neither 
eye hath seen nor ear heard what God 
hath prepared for those who love him, 
and serve him. Hence it is impossible to 
describe, in adequate terms, the happiness 
of the elect. 2 What we know is, that 
they will be exempt from evils and suf- 



1 What will be the effect of these two sentences 1 
fl What do we know of the happiness of the blessed? 

• Matt xxv. 46. And these shall go into everlasting 
punishment, but the just, into life everlasting. 
iCor.ix.9, 



so 

ferings of every kind, and will possess 
all good; that they ivill always see God, 
and be constantly occupied in loving, 
adoring, and praising him ; and that in 
consequence of this they will enjoy an in- 
ward peace and tranquillity, which nothing 
will ever be able to disturb. 1 Neverthe- 
less, there will be different degrees of 
glory and happiness amongst them. — 
Those who during life loved and served 
God more faithfully than others, will be 
proportionably more elevated in glory. 
Thus, whilst all will be happy in the pos- 
session of the same object, some will pos- 
sess it more fully and perfectly than others, 
and in this their various degrees of happi- 
ness will consist. 

II. 2 As the possession of God will con- 
stitute the chief felicity of the elect, so 
the eternal separation from God will be 
the principal torment of the damned. 
Besides this eternal loss of God, the sove- 
reign good, they will be cast into a pool of 
fire, where they will be an eternal prey to 
merciless devils, and their consciences will 
be unceasingly gnawed by the most bitter 
but useless repentance, for having mispent 



1 Will they all enjoy the same degree of happiness 1 

2 What will be the chief torments of the damned? 



Si 

the short time of this mortal life in sin, 
and thereby involved themselves in suf- 
ferings, which they will clearly see will 
never have an end. *In hell, however, 
the punishment of each one will be 
proportioned to his guilt. 3 What will 
be the state of infants that die without 
baptism is by no means certain. That 
they will be eternally deprived of the 
sight of God, is the unanimous opinion 
of the holy fathers and divines; but, whe- 
ther they will be sensible of their priva- 
tion in this respect, or will suffer any of 
the other torments of the damned, is a 
point on which the church has decided 
nothing : the opinion of St. Augustine is 
that they will not. 

Here, then, we have a summary of the 
doctrine of the Catholic church, relative 
to what we are all obliged to believe, 
which concludes the first part of this trea- 
tise. The following part will treat of the 
evil which we are to avoid, and the good 
works which we must practise, in order 
to escape the eternal punishment which 
awaits the wicked, and to arrive at the 
happiness of God's elect. 

1 Will all suffer alike in hell ? 

2 What will be the state of infants that die without 
fyaptkm ? 



82 



PART THE SECOND. 

WHAT CHRISTIANS ARE OBLIGED TO PRACTISE, 



CHAPTER THE FIRST. 
I. Sin in general, — II. Particular hinds of sin, 

I. 1 In order to obtain eternal happiness, 
we must lead a Christian life, that is, 
we must live conformably to the maxims 
which Jesus Christ has taught us by his 
word and his example. 2 Our practical 
duties may be reduced to tivo heads, avoid- 
ing evil, and doing good ; in other words, 
refraining from sin and practising virtue. 
3 By the word sin is understood any vio- 
lation or transgression of the law of 
God, in thought, ivord, or deed, 

II. 4 Sin is of two kinds, original and 
actual, 5 Original sin is the sin in 
which we are all born, through the trans- 
gression of Adam. 6 Actual sin is all 

1 What must we do to be saved ? 

2 To what may our practical duties be reduced ? 
8 What is sin ? 

4 How many kinds of sin are there ! 

5 What is original sin ? 
* What is actual sin ? 



83 



ike evil which we commit ourselves with 
the consent of our own wills : this conse- 
quently supposes that we possess the use 
of reason. Of actual sins some are mortal 
and others venial-^-some are sins of com* 
mission, others of omission — and s^me 
are carnal and others spiritual. More- 
over, we may sin by ignorance, by frail- 
ty, and by malice. 1 Mortal sin is any 
weighty or grievous irangression of tha 
law of God : it is called mortal or deadly r 
because it brings spiritual death to the 
soul, by depriving it of sanctifying grace 
and the friendship of G od. 2 The effects 
of mortal sin are most dreadful : a person 
by committing but one makes himself the 
enemy of God, a slave of the devil, and 
liable to the eternal torments of hell. 
3 Venial sin is any lesser transgressions 
of God's laws, which does not entirely 
destroy, but only lessens sanctifying grace 
I hi the soul : 4 it is called venial or par- 
donable, because, being more trivial in its 
own nature, it is more easily pardoned 
than mortal sin. 5 Its effects, though less 


1 What is mortal sin ? 

2 What are the effects of mortal sin ? 

3 What is venial sin ? 

4 Why is it called venial ? 

5 What are its effects ? : 



84 

terrible than those of mortal sin^ are, never- 
theless, such as ought to deter every Chris^ 
tian from committing it, and much more* 
from contracting a habit of it in any of 
its kinds. For, if venial sin does not de- 
stroy the life of the soul, it weakens it : 
it leads to mortal sin : it makes the soul 
less pleasing to God than before, and gives 
the devil power over it. 1 Moreover, the 
soul that dies under the guilt of venial sin 
cannot be admitted into heaven until it 
has been entirely cleansed and purified in 
purgatory. 2 «J sin of omission is omit- 
ting or neglecting to do something that 
is required by the law of God : for ex- 
ample, being absent, without a just cause,- 
from mass on Sunday, or negligence of 
parents in regard to the proper education 
of their children, are sins of omission. 
s «/2 sin of commission is any thought f 
word, or deed that is contrary to the 
commands of God : for example, to en- 
tertain wilfully an impure thought, tcr 
swear or to steal, are sins of commission 5 , i 
4 Spiritual sins are those which men 
commit solely in the mind and the 

1 Can a soul that dies in venial sin go to heaven ? 

2 What is a sin of omission P 

3 What is a sin of commission 1 

4 What are spiritual sins ? 



bo 

heart : of this kind are pride and envy.- 
1 Carnal sins are those which are con- 
summated in the body, such as drunken- 
ness and impurity. 2 Sins of ignorance 
are committed when a person transgresses 
the divine laws without knowing them* 
This supposes that his ignorance is wilful: 
for, if he had never had the opportunity 
of knowing better, the evil, which he 
commits, is not imputed to him. For in- 
stance, a person who has never had the 
opportunity of receiving religious in- 
struction, and is, therefore, ignorant of 
the obligation of hearing mass upon Sun-, 
days, is not guilty in the sight of God 
of sin by not hearing mass. The case is 
directly otherwise with those who neglect 
the opportunity of learning their duty : 
when a person of this description omits ; 
to do any thing prescribed by religions- 
he offends God, although he knows no 
better, because his ignorance arises from 
wilful neglect. 3 Sins of frailty are 
those which people commit through the 
infirmity of human nature, as when 
they are carried on to evil by the violence 
of some sudden temptation, or by the 



1 What are carnal sins T 

2 What are sins of ignorance \ 

3 What are sins of frailty ? 

8 



86 



force of bad habits, which they are en- 
deavouring to overcome. 1 Sins of malice 
are those committed, as it were, in cool 
blood, with full and deliberate consent, or 
through depravity of heart. 



CHAPTER THE SECOND. 

I. The capital sins, and their opposite virtues and 
remedies. 

I. 2 Amongst the many transgressions 
of the divine law there are seven, viz. 
pride, covetousness, lust, anger, glut- 
tony, envy, and sloth, which deserve to 
be particularly noticed, because they are 
the source and origin from which all other 
sins proceed ; and, for this reason, they 
are called the capital sins. 3 1st. Pride 
is an inordinate love and esteem of our* 
selves or our own excellence, real or ima- 
ginary. 4 It is the mother of vanity r 
(which consists in seeking the applause 
and regard of others,) disobedience, re* 
venge, hypocrisy, ambition, discord, ani- 



i What are sins of malice ? 

3 How many and what are the capital sins ? 

3 What is pride ? 

* What are the effects of pride 1 



87 



mosity and obstinacy in one's own opinion, 
1 The remedy of pride is to practise the 
opposite virtue of humility. 2 Humility 
consists in the conviction of our own 
nothingness and attributing all the good 
that we possess to God. 3 2dly, Covet- 
ousness is an inordinate or too great an 
affection for the things of this world. 
4 The signs and effects of a covetous heart 
are, immoderate joy in prosperity or ex- 
cessive grief in adversity too great eager- 
ness after riches, and hard-heartedness 
to the poor. — Covetousness is also the 
mother of fraud, perjury, lies and oppres- 
sion of others. 5 The remedy of this 
vice is, to practise the opposite virtue of 
liberality j 6 which consists in not being 
too rigorous in asserting our own rights, 
and in giving alms to the poor. 7 The 
covetous man should also frequently pray 
to be delivered from his unhappy passion, 
and consider that death will soon come 
and deprive him of all that he possesses,-^ 



1 What is the remedy ? 

2 What is humility ? 

3 What is covetousness ? 

4 What are its effects ? 

5 What is the remedy 9 

6 What is liberality ? 

7 What else should the covetous man do % 



88 



4 3dly, Lust is an irregular love, or de- 
sire of carnal pleasure. It may be com- 
mitted by actions, words or songs, looks, 
thoughts, and desires ; 2 and it is to be 
observed, that nothing but the want of 
full consent or deliberation can excuse 
the person who sins in any of these ways 
from mortal sin. 3 Pride, pampering 
the body with good cheer and an idle life, 
are the general causes of impurity. 4 The 
consequences of this vice are generally 
most dreadful ; it brings on its unhappy 
victims, hardness of heart, darkness of 
understanding, disgust for religious duties, 
and forgetfulness of God, and generally 
leads to final impenitence. 5 To over- 
come this vice, it is necessary to cultivate 
the opposite virtue of chastity, 6 which 
consists in loving and esteeming purity 
both of body and mind. 7 It is, more- 
over, necessary to fee, as far as possible, 
all occasions of impurity, particularly the 
frequenting the company of persons of the 



1 What is lust? 

2 Is lust ahvays a mortal sin ? 

3 What are the causes of lust? 

* What are the consequences of it ] 

5 What are its remedies? 

6 In what does chastity consist] 

7 What else is requisite to overcome lust ? 



89 



other sex, and reading bad books or songs ; 
to love prayer and retirement ; to be 
always well employed ; to lead a peniten- 
tial life, and often to meditate upon death 
and eternity. 1 4thly, Anger is an inor- 
dinate emotion of the interior caused by 
something that displeases us. When this 
emotion is shown outwardly by actions or 
words, it becomes passion. 2 Anger and 
passion are mortal sins when they are 
very violent, or when they are accom- 
panied, though for ever so short a time, 
with hatred or the desire of revenge. 
3 The effects of anger are, enmities, quar- 
rels, law-suits, injuries and schemes of 
revenge. 4 In order to overcome it, we 
must practise the opposite virtue of meek- 
ness, 5 which consists in preserving, under 
all occurrences, an even temper. Hence, 
a person who is prone to anger should 
never speak or act under its influence, but 
try to accustom himself to patience and 
forbearance. 6 5thly, Gluttony is an in- 
ordinate love of eating or drinking. 



1 What is anger ,? 

2 When are anger and passion mortal sins £ 
* What are the effects of anger 1 

4 What are its remedies ? 

5 What is meekness ? 

6 What is gluttony ? 

8* 



90 



though the latter is generally distinguish- 
ed by the name of drunkenness. Glut- 
tony may be committed either by eating 
or drinking to excess, or with prejudice to 
the health of the body, or by extravagant 
expenses in meat or drink. 1 Those who 
are addicted to this sin. and in particular 
that species of it termed drunkenness, ex- 
pose themselves to the danger of commit- 
ting numberless disorders. They ruin 
their families, destroy their reason and 
hasten death ; their understandings be- 
come clouded , and they are generally ad- 
dicted to every species of impurity. 2 The 
remedy is, to cultivate the opposite virtue 
of temperance. 3 which consists in always 
keeping within the strict limits of mode-t 
ration : to refrain from public houses, 
and joining the company of drunkards \ 
to practise fasting and penance, and to me- 
ditate often upon death. 4 6thly, Envy is 
a repining or grieving at the good of 
another, because it seems to lessen our 
own, 5 It generally originates in pride or 
covetousness, and from it proceed hatred 



1 What are its effects ? 

2 What are its remedies ? 

3 What is temperance ? 

4 What is envy? 

* What are its effects ? 



n 



of others, the desire of injuring them, 
calumnies and lies. 1 Envy is directly 
opposed to the virtue of fraternal cha,' 
rity, which consists in loving every one 
as ice love ourselves. 2 To overcome it, 
therefore, we must wish well to all and 
do to all others the good that lies in our 
power. 3 Tthly, Sloth is a laziness or dis- 
gust, inclining a person to neglect either 
spiritual or temporal duties. 4 The con- 
sequences of this vice are, an aversion 
for labour, too much lying in bed, cow- 
ardice and despair, dislike to hear the 
truth, dissipation of mind and hardness 
of heart. 5 In order to conquer sloth, it 
is necessary to cultivate the opposite vir- 
tue of diligence, 6 by the frequent use of 
earnest and fervent prayer, and by lead- 
ing a laborious, mortified and penitential 
life. 



1 What is fraternal charity ? 

2 What are the remedies of envy ? 

3 What is sloth ? 

4 What are its effects ? 

5 What are its remedies ? 
5 What is diligence ? 



92 



CHAPTER THE THIRD. 

I. The theological virtues, — II. The moral virtues* 

I. 1 There are two kinds of virtues, 
the theological and the moral. 2 The 
theological or divine virtues are three, 
faith, hope, and charity ; 3 they are so 
called, because they directly and imme- 
diately regard Almighty God : for, by 
faith we believe in him, by hope we rely 
upon him for all present and future good, j 
and by charity we love him, and every ; 
fellow creature for his sake. 4 1st, Faith \ 
consists in believing all that God has re- I 
vealed and his church proposes to our be- 
lief, because he has revealed them, who 
is the sovereign truth, and can neither be 
deceived himself, nor deceive us. Al- 
though it would be a grievous sin to re- 
fuse our assent to any article of faith, 
when properly proposed to us as such, yet 
there are some articles which all Chris- 
tians, who have come to the years of dis- 
cretion, are particularly bound to know 

1 How many kinds of virtues are there 1 

2 What are the theological virtues P 

3 Why are they called theological ? 

4 What is faith i 



93 



and believe. 1 The articles are, the unity 
and trinity of God, the incarnation and 
death of our Saviour, original sin, the 
necessity of divine grace, and a future 
state of reward and punishment ; to 
which may be added several points relating 
to the sacraments of penance and the holy 
eucharist 2 We may sin against faith by 
neglecting to procure religious instruct 
Hon, by not believing all that faith 
teaches, by refusing to make a profes- 
sion of our faith when called upon by 
lawful authority, and by voluntarily doubt- 
ing of any revealed truth. 3 2dly, Hope 
consists in relying for mercy, grace and 
salvation on the power, goodness and 
promises of God, and the merits of Je~ 
sus Christ. We may sin against hope in 
two ways, by presumption and despair. 
4 Those are guilty of presumption, who 
abuse the power and justice of God, by 
expecting to arrive at eternal life with- 
out his grace, or without endeavouring 
to keep his commandments. 5 Those 



1 What are those articles of faith which all Chris- 
tians are particularly bound to know and believe 1 

2 What are the sins against faith! 

3 What is hope ? 

4 Who are guilty of presumption ? 

5 Who are guilty of despair ? 



94 



are guilty of despair, who abuse the mercy 
of God, by failing in their confidence in 
him, on account of the greatness and enor- ; 
mity of their sins. 1 3dly, Charity, con- 
sists in loving God, because he is infinitely I 
good and perfect in himself. 2 Every 
Christian is bound to love God above all 
things, and with his whole heart. 3 In 
order to fulfil this duty, we must refer to 
his honour and glory all the desires of 
our hearts, all our thoughts, and all the ! 
words and actions of our lives, so as to | 
be willing rather to die than offend him ' 
by mortal sin. 4 Charity is also due to J 
ourselves in relation to God : 5 it consists i 
in seeking our happiness in God, and j 
offering continual violence to ourselves, in 
prder to surmount the corrupt inclinations 
of nature, 6 Another branch of charity is, 
the love of our neighbours. 7 We must 
love every fellow creature in the world 
for God's sake, and in the same man- 
ner as we love ourselves. 8 Hence alms- \ 

1 What is charity P 

2 How are we bound to love God ? 

3 In what does the fulfilment of this duty consist ] 

4 Are we obliged to love ourselves P 

5 In what does the love of ourselves consist ! 

6 Are we obliged to love our neighbours P 

7 How are we to love them 1 

8 What is to be said of charity to the poor P 



95 



deeds, or charity to the poor, is strictly 
binding upon all, as far as their circum- 
stances will permit. If any one, says 
St. John$* hath the substance of this 
world, and seeing his brother in need, 
shall shut his heart against him, how 
shall the charity of God abide in him ? 

1 Our charity must even be extended to 
our greatest enemies. We cannot for a 
moment wilfully entertain sentiments of 
hatred or desires of revenge against an 
enemy, much less do him an uncharitable 
action, without incurring the guilt of sin ; 
and when either hatred, the desire of re- 
venge, or uncharitableness is considerable^ 
the sin becomes mortal. / say to youj 
says our divine master, love your ene-* 
mies,do good to them that hate you, #c.t 

2 This, however, is not to be understood 
as destroying the right, which each one 
has, to seek legal redress for injuries in 
property or good name; but then, in order 
not to violate the laws of fraternal charity^ 
it must be done, not through animosity y 



1 How are we to love our enemies ? 

2 Does the precept of loving our enemies make it 
sinful to seek legal redress for injuries, and what is to 
be observed respecting this 1 

————— 

1 Ep. St. John iii. 17, 18. f Matt - v - 44 ' 



96 



or the desire of revenge, but solely to de* 
fend one's just and lawful rights. 

II. All other virtues, besides the three 
just mentioned, are called moral virtues; 
amongst these there are four which should 
be here particularly noticed. 1 They are, 
prudence, justice, fortitude, and temper- 
ance, which are called cardinal virtues, 
because they are, as it were, the hinges 
upon which all the actions of our lives 
should turn. 2 By prudence we discern 
what we must do, and what we must 
avoid ; in other words, how we must act 
in the different circumstances of our lives. 
3 By justice we discharge on all occasions 
our duty to God, to our neighbours, and 
to ourselves. 4 By fortitude w r e sur- 
mount all the obstacles which oppose the 
discharge of our duty. 5 By temperance 
we disengage our affections from earth- 
ly things, and use them with moderation. 



1 Which are four cardinal virtues, and why are they 
so called ] 

2 What is prudence ? 

3 What is justice ? 

4 What is fortitude ? 

5 What is temperance ? 



97 



CHAPTER THE FOURTH. 

I. The Ten Commandments. 

I. 1 Every Christian is bound to keep 
the ten commandments: If thou ivilt en- 
ter into life keep the commandments* 
2 They were first given by the Almighty 
to the Israelites, through the ministry of 
Moses, upon their deliverance from the 
slavery of Egypt, and were afterwards 
ratified and confirmed by Jesus Christ. 
The first three comprise the duty which 
we owe to God: the remaining seven that 
which we owe to our neighbours. 3 Hence 
our Saviour reduces them to two: thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with thy 
ivhole heart, fyc, this is the greatest and 
the first commandment: and the second 
is like unto this, thou shalt love thy 
neighbour as thyself A This will be ren- 
dered intelligible by the following table: — 



1 Are we bound to keep the ten commandments P 

2 Who gave the ten commandments 1 
2 Which are they ? 



* Matt. xix. 17. f Mark xE 30, 31. 

9 



08 



^03 

■sag 

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tc o 

.•So * 

2o^5 



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£-5 



1st commandment : Thou shall 
hot make to thyself any graven 
thing, nor the likeness of any 
thing in heaven above, nor in 
the earth beneath, nor in the 
waters under the earth; thou 
shalt not adore them nor serve 
them. 

2d commandment : Thou shalt 
not take the name of the Lord 
thy God in vain. 
3d commandment : Remember 
thou keep holy the Sabbath day. 

4th commandment : Honour thy fa- 
ther and thy mother. 

5th commandment : Thou shalt 
kill. 

6th commandment 

commit adultery. 
7th commandment ; 

steal. 
8th commandment 



not 



Thou shalt not 
Thou shalt not 



Thou shalt not 
thy 



bear false witness against 

neighbour. 
9th commandment : Thou shalt not 

covet thy neighbour's wife. 
10th commandment : Thou shalt not 

covet thy neighbour's goods- 



99 



Each one of the ten commandments, 
whether it be expressed by way of a com- 
mand to perform some good, or a prohibi- 
tion to commit some evil, contains both a 
command and a prohibition. What each 
commandment commands and forbids, will 
be hereafter fully explained under the sa* 
prament of penance. 



CHAPTER THE FIFTH. 

L Precepts of the church. — II. Holydays. — III. Hear* 
ing mass on Sundays. — IV. Annual confession.— 
V. Easter communion. — VI. Abstinence and fast- 
ing. — VII. Prohibition to marry at certain times* 

I. 1 Jesus Christ appointed pastors to 
govern his church, and every Christian is 
bound to obey their commands in things 
spiritual, under the pain of mortal sin; 
He that hears you, hears me, and he that 
despises you, despises me.* Among the 
various precepts delivered by the church, 
jthere are six which demand particular no- 



1 Are all Christians obliged to obey the pastors of the 
church 1 



* Luke x. 16. 



100 

tice, as being of more general obligation 
than the rest. They are as follows : — 

II. 1 1st. The church requires her child- 
ren to keep certain appointed days holy. 
This is, doubtless, agreeable to the inten- 
tions of God. 2 For, as in the old law the 
Jews were commanded to celebrate the 
festivals of the passover, pentecost, the 
tabernacles, &c, in annual commemoration 
of the benefits bestowed upon them by the 
Almighty, so Christians cannot but consi- 
der themselves bound to devote certain 
days to the purpose of commemorating 
and returning thanks to God for his 
still greater mercies and bounties to them. 
3 The days at present commanded by the 
church to be kept holy in England are, 
1st, Christmas Day, the birthday of Jesus 
Christ: 2d, his Circumcision: 3d, the 
Epiphany or sixth day of January, in 
commemoration of the first manifestation 
of our Saviour to the Gentiles, in the per- 
sons of the wise men, who came from the 
east to adore him : 4th, the Annunciation, 
or twenty-fifth day of March, the day on 
which the Son of God became man in the 



1 Which is the first 'precept of the church 1 

2 Why are we commanded to keep certain days holy P 

3 Which are the days at present appointed to be kept 
holy ? 



101 



womb of the blessed virgin Mary: 5th, 
Easier Monday, as a continuation of the 
celebration Gf our Lord's resurrection 
from the dead: 6 th, the Ascension of our 
Lord, which falls on the Thursday follow- 
ing the fifth Sunday after Easter: 7th, 
Whitsun Monday, as a continuation of 
the commemoration of the descent of the 
Holy Ghost upon the apostles, to enable 
them to plant the church of Christ: 8th, 
Corpus Christi-day, which is the Thurs- 
day following Trinity Sunday, on which 
day we celebrate the institution of the 
sacrifice and sacrament of the holy eucha- 
rist: 9th, St Peter and St. Paul, the 29th 
day of June: 10th, the Assumption of the 
blessed virgin Mary into heaven, the fif- 
teenth day of August: 11th, All Saints- 
day, the first day of November. 1 The 
obligation of sanctifying these days by 
hearing mass and refraining from ser- 
vile work upon them, is equal to that of 
sanctifying the Sunday. Hence nothing 
but real necessity or some motive of cha- 
rity can justify any one in devoting all or 
any part of these days to labour: 2 and, 



1 How arc these days to be sanctified .? 

2 What should those do who are obliged to work on 
holidays ? 



102 

when persons are so circumstanced as to 
be obliged to work upon them, they ought, 
as much as possible, to keep themselves 
recollected in the presence of God. 

IIL 1 2dly. The church commands all 
her children to assist at the holy sacrifice 
of the mass on all Sundays and holy- 
days. 2 So urgent is this precept, that 
none can absent themselves, unless from 
causes of necessity or charity, without in- 
curring the guilt of mortal sin. 3 And it 
must be observed that when, from sick- 
ness or any other just cause, persons can- 
not be present at mass, they ought to 
endeavour to assist in spirit, by offering 
up their prayers during the time that mass 
is celebrating. 

IV. 4 3dly. The church commands all 
her children, as soon as they have arrived 
at the years of discretion, so as to be capa- 
ble of mortal sin, to confess their sins to 
their pastors, at least once in every year. 

V. 5 4thly. The church commands all, 



1 Which is the second precept of the church] 

2 What sin would it be to omit hearing mass on 
Sundays or holydays without necessity 1 

3 What should those do who are lawfully hindered 
from hearing mass 1 

4 Which is the third precept of the church? 

6 Which is the fourth precept of the church * 



103 



as soon as they are capable of discerning 
the body of our Lord, to receive worthily 
the holy eucharist at the time of Easter, 
that is,, between Palm Sunday and Low 
Sunday; a duty which, if neglected at that 
time, is binding afterwards until it be ful- 
filled. 1 Not that she wishes her children 
to suppose that this is all that she recom- 
mends: for she exhorts them all to ap- 
proach frequently, with worthy disposi- 
tions, to this fountain of grace, as the only 
secure means of avoiding mortal sin, and 
working out their salvation. 

VI. 2 5thly. The church commands all 
her children, that have attained the use of 
reason, to observe the days of abstinence, 
and all who have arrived at the age of 21 
years to fast on certain days, unless from 
just and reasonable cause they be exempt. 

3 Abstinence consists in refraining on 
certain days from the use of flesh-meat. 

4 Fasting is taking one full meal in the 
day, and that not before mid-day. 5 Be- 



1 Does the church consider it sufficient for her child- 
ren to communicate once a year ? 

2 Which is the fifth precept of the church 1 

3 What is abstinence ? 

4 What is fasting ? 

B Is any thing more than one full meal allowed oa, 
fasting days 1 



104 



sides this full meal, however, according to 
the present discipline of the church in this 
country, a very small quantity may be 
taken in a morn ing, and what is called a col- 
lation at night, which last even must not 
exceed one quarter or at most one third of 
a meal; 1 and neither that which is taken in 
the morning nor the evening collation must 
consist either of fish, eggs, butter, cheese, 
or milk. 2 The days of abstinence are, 
1st, all Fridays throughout the year, exr 
cept Christmas Day should happen to fall 
on either of them: 2dly, all the Sundays 
of Lent : 3dly, the twenty-fifth day of 
Jipril, unless it fall in Easter week, or 
upon a Sunday: 4thly, the three days be? 
fore Ascension Day, which are called ro^ 
gation days: and 5thly, all the fasting 
days throughout the year.* 3 The fasting 



1 What kinds of food are forbidden for the morning 
and evening collation on days of fasting ] 

2 What are the present days of abstinence P 
Which are the present fasting days P 



* Of late years, it has been customary for the vicara 
apostolic in England to grant permission to the faithful 
to eat flesh-meat upon the Sundays in Lent, as also on 
the Tuesdays and Thursdays (but on Tuesdays and 
Thursdays only once in the day even to those who are 
Hot obliged to fast) between the first and last Sundays 



105 



days are, 1st, the Wednesdays and Fri- 
days of Advent : 2dly, Christmas Eve: 
3dly, the forty days of Lent, beginning 
with Ash Wednesday, and leaving out the 
Sundays: 4thly, Whitsiin Eve: 5thly, the 
Eve of St, Peter and St. Paul: 6thiy, the 
Eve of the Assumption of the Blessed 
Virgin: 7thly, Eve of All Saints: and 
lastly, the Wednesdays, Fridays, and 
Saturdays of the Ember Weeks, which 
occur at the four seasons of the year. 

VII. 1 6thly. The church forbids her 
children to marry within the first four 
degrees of consanguinity , or to solemnize 
marriage between the first Sunday of 
Advent and the feast of the Epiphany, 
inclusively, and from Ash Wednesday 
until after Low Sunday; or to marry 
privately without witnesses.* 



1 What is the sixth precept of the church ? 



in Lent. This, however, is an indulgence wholly un- 
known to our immediate forefathers, and which, if it be 
judged expedient, may at any time be withheld. — Note 
to the English edition, 

* In the catechism lately published by the authority 
of the English vicars apostolic, the precept of paying 
tithes to our pastors has been omitted. The faithful, 
however, are bound by the law of nature, as well as by 
the divine law inculcated by St. Paul in the ninth chap.- 



106 



CHAPTER THE SIXTH. 

J. Baptism, the duly of parents. — II. Infants in dan* 
ger of death. — III. Godfathers and godmothers. — 
JV. Conditional baptism. 

I. Having, in the former part of this 
treatise, laid down the doctrine of the 
Catholic church, relative to what we are 
Jxmnd to believe concerning the sacra- 
ments, I come now to explain the practical 
duties appertaining to each of them. — 
1 First, therefore, with regard to baptism, 
it is the duty of parents to see that their 
children are baptized as early as possible 
after they are born, a duty which is the 
more urgent, on account of the many dan- 
gers to which infants are exposed of sud- 
den death : parents, therefore, should never 
defer the sending their children to be bap- 
tized beyond the first Sunday after they 
are born, or even earlier, if there be any 
apparent danger of death. 

! What is the duty of parents towards their children 
as soon as they are born 1 



ter of his first epistle to the Corinthians, to contribute 
to the temporal support of those from whose ministry 
they receive spiritual blessings. This is taught in the 
new catechism under the fourth commandment. — iVo/f 
to the English edition. 



107 



IX. 1 Should a child be in danger of* 
death, and no priest at hand to baptize it, 
any layman or woman may do it: al- 
though, 2 when any other person can be 
procured, a father or mother should 
never baptize their own child. 3 The 
manner of baptizing a child in danger of 
death is, to pour common water on its 
head, so that the water will run upon its 
skin, and to say at the same time these 
words: / baptize thee, in the name of 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. 4 Should a child that has 
been thus baptized, afterwards recover, it 
must be taken to the chapel to have the 
ceremonies supplied, when it must be cer- 
tified to the priest that it has already re- 
ceived private baptism. 

III. When a child is solemnly baptized* 
that is, with the accompanying ceremonies, 
it must have either a godfather or a god- 
mother ; or it may have both, but not 
more. 5 Parents must always select as 



* Can a lay person baptize a child in danger of death 1 
i 2 Is it proper for a father or mother to baptize their 
| Own child 1 

3 How is baptism given 1 

4 What must be observed when a child recovers which 
j has been privately baptized 1 

5 What are the qualities requisite in sponsors 1 



108 



sponsors, Catholics ivho are instructed 
in their duty, who are of good moral 
conduct, and ivho practise the duties 
of religion. 1 Any persons of the above 
description may be admitted to the office 
of godfathers and godmothers, except the 
parents of the child. 2 Godfathers and 
godmothers, as also the person who bap- 
tizes, contract what is called a spiritual 
affinity with the child baptized, as also 
with its parents: 3 in consequence of 
which, they cannot afterwards marry 
either the child or its parents. 4 The 
duty of sponsors is, to see that their god- 
children are timely instructed in the 
truths of religion, and this more espe- 
cially should the parents neglect it, or be 
prevented by death. 

IV. 5 A person who has been once bap- 
tized cannot, without the guilt of sacri- 
lege, be baptized a second time. 6 In this 



1 Can parents stand as sponsors for their own child- 
ren'? 

2 Between whom is spiritual affinity contracted by 
baptism 1 

3 What is the consequence of this affinity 1 

4 What is the duty of sponsors ? 

5 Can a person be baptized more than once ? 

6 Why are converts to the Catholic faith re-baptized 
conditionally ? 



109 



country, however, it is generally judged 
expedient to re-baptize conditionally, 
those who become converts to the Catho- 
lic faith, on account of the uncertainty, 
whether they were properly baptized be- 
fore. 1 In grown up persons, it is requi- 
site that acts of virtue, particularly of 
faith, hope, charity, and contrition for 
sin should precede the receiving of bap- 
tism, otherwise the sacrament would be 
profaned, and would not produce the for-* 
giveness of sin. 



CHAPTER THE SEVENTH. 

I. Confirmation, 

I. 2 Confirmation is not, like baptism, 
necessary for salvation; no one, however, 
who is sufficiently instructed, and has the 
opportunity of receiving it, can neglect it, 
without a grievous sin. The reason of 
this is, because, by such neglect, he would 
be guilty of disobedience to God and his 



1 What dispositions are requisite in grown up per- 
sons for receiving baptism 1 

^ What sin would it be to neglect the opportunity of 
receiving confirmation 1 

10 



110 



church, and would voluntarily deprive i 
himself of a powerful help to salvation, i 
1 To receive worthily this sacrament, it is J 
necessary that a person should be in the 
state of grace, and be instructed in the 
nature of confirmation, as well as in the I 
principal mysteries of religion. 2 He 
should also, after the example of the apos- 
tles, endeavour to dispose himself for the 
coming of the Holy Ghost by more than 
ordinary retirement and prayer, 3 Con- 
firmation, like baptism, can be received 
but once, and it would be a sacrilege to 
attempt to receive it a second time. 



CHAPTER THE EIGHTH. 

I. Penance, — II. What is to be done before confes- 
sion. — III. What is to be done at confession, — 
IV. What after confession. — V. Important obser- 
vations, 

I. The sacrament of penance being the 
only ordinary means whereby a Christian 
in the state of mortal sin can obtain for- 



1 What dispositions are necessary for receiving it 1 

2 How ought persons to prepare for it 1 

What sin would it be to attempt to receive con- 
firmation more than once ? 



Ill 



: giveness, it is of the utmost consequence 
that every one should have a thorough 
knowledge of all that appertains to it. — 
Without, however, recurring to a repeti- 
tion of what has been said in a former part 
of this treatise relative to the three parts of 
penance, contrition, confession, and satis- 
faction, it will suffice to lay down, 1 1st, 
what a sinner must do before he goes to 
confession; 2d, what he must do at con- 
fession; and 3d, what his duty is after 

\ confession. 

II. 1st. Before confession. — 2 The duty 
of a sinner before confession may be shortly 
expressed in these words, prayer, exami- 
nation, and sorrow. By prayer is meant, 
asking the grace or assistance of God: by 
examination is meant, examining his con- 
science in order to find out all the sins of 
which he is guilty: by sorrow is under- 
stood, exciting himself to a grief of mind 
for, and detestation of, his sins, together 
with a firm resolution never more to com- 
mit them, 3 It is necessary that the sin- 



1 What must Christians know respecting the pi*ac- 
tical part of penance 1 

2 How is the duty of a sinner before confession ex- 
pressed in three words ? 

2 Why is it necessary to begin the preparation for 
confession by prayer £ 



112 



ner should begin by asking the grace of 
God, because, without this, he can neither 
know his sins as they really are, nor con- 
ceive a true sorrow for them; for, as St. 
James says, every good and perfect gift 
is from above, descending from the 
Father of lights* 1 He will find a prayer 
for this end in the Garden of the Soul, 
and other books of devotion. He would 
also do well, if he have the convenience, 
to assist at the holy sacrifice of the mass, 
and to offer up for some days before he 
goes to confession his morning and even- 
ing devotions with the view of obtaining 
the grace of God. 2 Having thus implored 
the light and assistance of heaven, he must 
proceed to the examination of his con- 
science, which consists in finding out, to 
the best of his power, the different mortal 
sins of which he has been guilty, together 
with such circumstances as either change 
their nature or considerably aggravate their 
malice, and the number of times he has 
committed each of them. 3 The reason 



1 What prayers should be said for this purpose ? 

2 What is the next duty of the sinner 1 

3 Why is the examination of conscience necessary 1 



* James i, 17. 



113 



why this examination of conscience is 
necessary is, because he cannot otherwise 
make an entire confession of his sins. 
1 In this examination he must pay particu- 
lar attention to the manner in which he 
has fulfilled the duties of his state of life* 
as that of a parent, child, master or ser- 
vant, to sins of habit, and the evil dispo- 
sitions which have predominated in his 
heart. 2 In order to find out all the sins 
he has been guilty of, he must examine 
himself by the ten co mm andmentSj the 
six precepts of the church, and the seven 
capital si?is, in the following manner:— 

Under the first commandment* 

3 Whether he has ever read impious or 
irreligious books— disbelieved or doubted 
of any article of faith — neglected religious 
instruction — denied his religion — gone to 
places of false worship — neglected his 
morning and night prayers, and the acts 
of faith, hope, and charity— said his pray- 
ers with wilful distraction — been guilty of 



1 To what must the sinner pay particular attention 
in his examination % 

2 What method must he follow in order to find out 
all his sins. 

3 "What must he examine under the first command" 
ment ? 

10* 



114 



presumption or despair — committed sacri- 
lege — ridiculed or laughed at holy persons 
or things — consulted fortune-tellers — be- 
lieved in dreams — taken notice of omens — 
used any charms, or done any other super- 
stitious thing — been accessary to another's 
committing any of these sins, and how many 
times. N. B. 1 The sin of sacrilege con- 
sists in offering violence to or profaning 
either persons or things that are conse- 
crated to God, as for example, striking 
maliciously, or committing any carnal sin 
with a person consecrated to God, acting 
irreverently in the house of God, or to- 
wards sacred images and pictures, receiv- 
ing unworthily any of the sacraments, and 
the like. 

Under the second commandment. 

2 Whether he has broken a vow — been 
guilty of blasphemy — of cursing, and in 
what manner, and whether it was from his 
heart — of swearing, and in what manner, 
or whether he has sworn unnecessarily, or 
to do what is sinful, or in a lie — kept com- 
pany with cursers and swearers — been 
guilty of simply taking the name of God 

1 What is the sin of saciilege ? 

2 What must he examine under the second com* 
mandment ? 



115 



in vain — being accessary to another's doing 
any of these things, and how many times. 
N. B. 1 A vow is a promise made to God 
to do something which is good, and when 
once made it is binding, under a special 
obligation. A vow, therefore, differs from 
a resolution, as the latter merely implies 
the present determination, of the will: 
thus in preparing for confession a penitent 
is obliged to make a resolution never more 
to offend God by mortal sin; whereas, it 
would generally be rash to bind himself 
by vow never again to commit a mortal 
sin. 2 Vows, particularly of chastity and 
religion, should never be made without 
mature deliberation and the advice or 
permission of a prudent director: 3 and, 
should circumstances afterwards render a 
dispensation necessary or expedient for 
any person who has made a vow, he must 
apply for it to proper authority, through 
the medium of his director. 4 Blasphemy 
is a word or thought disrespectful to 
God or any of his saints. 5 Cursing is 



1 What is a vow ? 

2 What precautions are necessary respecting vows 1 

3 What must a person do who wishes to be dispensed 
with from a vow 1 

4 What is blasphemy ? 

5 What is cursing ? 



116 

wishing any evil wish, 1 and may be com- 
mitted in three ways, by wishing an evil 
wish to oneself, to another person, or to 
things, or animals.. 2 Swearing is call- 
ing God or some of his creatures to wit- 
ness^ and is usually committed by putting 
the word by before the name of God or 
the name of the person or thing that is 
called to witness. 3 It is not sinful, but, 
on the contrary, an act of religion to 
swear, or (which is the same thing) take 
an oath, when the honour of God, the 
good of our neighbour or our own good 
requires it. 4 But it must be observed, 
that none but a spiritual superior in 
spiritual things, and a civil magistrate 
in temporal things, can administer an 
oath. Hence any person administering 
or taking an oath privately, is guilty of 
sin, and it is sinful to enter or belong 
to any secret society, where an oath is 
a necessary qualification for admission. — 
5 By simply taking in vain the name 
of God is meant, using the name of the 
Almighty on trivial occasions, or in sur- 

1 How many ways are there of cursing 1 

2 What is swearing ? 

3 Is it lawful to take an oath ?■ 

4 Before whom must it be taken I 

5 What is simply taking in vain the name of God? 



117 



prise, by saying, O God! Lord! good 
God! \c. 

Under the third commandment 

1 Whether he has neglected to hear mass 
on Sundays — been too late for mass — heard 
it with wilful distractions — whether, when 
lawfully hindered from hearing mass, he 
has omitted to sanctify the day at home — 
neglected to assist at afternoon prayers, 
or to say them at home — been guilty of 
laughing or talking in the chapel — bought 
or sold, or done any servile work without 
necessity on Sundays, and for how long a 
time — committed any sin on those days — 
caused another person to do any of these 
things, and how many times. N. B. It is 
sinful to perform on a Sunday any servile 
work which can either be done before or 
deferred to another time, and, generally 
speaking, none should work without con- 
sulting their pastors. 

Under the fourth commandment, 

1st. 2 Children must examine, whether 
they have disobeyed the lawful commands 

1 What must the sinner examine under the third 
commandment ? 

2 What must children examine under the fourth 
commandment ? 



US 



of their parents — looked sour or stubborn at 
them— given them provoking language — 
struck or threatened to strike them — put 
them into passions — provoked them to 
curse or swear — entertained any hatred 
or dislike to them — wished their death — 
stolen from them or squandered away 
their substance- — neglected to work for 
them, or to succour them in their neces- 
sities, especially in old age, or under in- 
firmity. 

2d. 1 Parents must examine, whether 
they have been wanting in their duty to 
their children, that is, whether they have 
neglected to have them speedily baptized 
— -omitted to teach them their prayers, to 
procure them instruction, to see that they 
hear mass on Sundays, and frequent the 
sacraments when of proper age — been 
careless in keeping them from wicked 
company, and all dangerous occasions of 
sin, neglected to correct them in their 
faults, or been excessive, passionate and 
uncharitable in their corrections, enter- 
tained hatred towards them, shown undue 
partiality to any of them, set them bad 
example, or encouraged them to evil, 
squandered away in gaming, drinking, 



i What must parents examine ! 



119 



or any other way what was necessary for 
their support, neglected to put them to 
some employment, forced them to marry 
against their will, or refused to allow them 
to marry without a just cause, and how 
many times. 

3d. 1 Husbands and wives must exa- 
mine whether they have been wanting in 
love or fidelity towards each other, been 
jealous without reason, or given cause for 
jealousy, the husband, wmether he has 
been guilty of overbearing or unbecoming 
treatment towards his wife, and the wife, 
whether she has refused due obedience to 
her husband — been guilt}' of mismanaging 
their household affairs, or run him into 
debt without his knowledge or consent. 

4th. 2 Masters and mistresses must ex- 
amine whether they have been careful to 
see that their servants are instructed in 
their duty— allowed them to hear mass 
and sanctify the Sundays and holydays, 
and to say their morning and night pray- 
ers, watched over their behaviour, and 
corrected them in their faults, been pas- 
sionate in their behaviour towards them, 
or refused to pay them their wages. 



1 What must husbands and wives examine 1 

2 What must masters and mistresses examine 1 



120 

5th. 1 Servants, also, must examine 
whether they have been guilty of disobe- 
dience in any matter of moment to their 
masters or mistresses, provoked them to 
anger, given them impertinent answers, 
disclosed the secrets of the family, neglect- 
ed their work, caused damage by neglect, 
stolen from them, or given any thing out 
of the house without their knowledge. 

Under the fifth commandment. 

2 The sinner must examine, whether he 
has been guilty of anger, passion, quarrel- 
ling, or fighting, whether he has encou- 
raged others to quarrel or fight, taken 
pleasure in seeing others fight, not pre- 
vented them, when in his power, refused 
to speak to, be reconciled with, or borne 
malice towards a neighbour, and for how 
long a time, w T ished another person's 
death, done any thing to endanger the 
life of another, wished or attempted to 
procure a miscarriage, exposed his own 
life to danger, wished his own death, 
thought or attempted to make away with 
himself, given bad example to, or drawn 



1 What must servants examine ] 

2 What must the sinner examine under the fifth 
commandment P 



121 



another into mortal sin, and how many 
times. N. B. Anger and passion have 
been explained in the second chapter of 
this part, under the capital sins : and the 
duties of fraternal charity have been laid 
down at large in the third chapter of the 
same part. Let the sinner here observe, 
that any sin, which other persons know r 
him to have committed, is more or less 
attended with the circumstance of scandal 
or bad example. Hence, in the examina- 
tion of his conscience he should be care- 
ful under each commandment to find out 
before how many persons he sinned, and 
declare the same in confession. 

Under the sixth and ninth commandments. 

1 Whether he has been guilty of wiU 
fully entertaining immodest thoughts or 
desires, and what sort of persons were the 
objects of those desires, looked at im- 
modest objects, read bad books, listened 
wilfully or with pleasure to impure dis- 
course, spoken immodest words, or words 
of double meaning, or sung bad songs, and 
before how many and ivhat sort of per- 
sons he spoke or sung, touched himself 



1 What must he examine under the sixth and ninth 
commandments ? 

11 



122 

immodestly or taken pleasure in the irre- 
gular motions of the flesh, kissed or 
touched others immodestly, received or 
exposed himself to the danger of such fa- 
miliarities, committed fornication, incest 
or adultery, committed self-pollution or 
any other sin against nature, either by 
himself or with another, entertained the 
thought or desire of committing any such 
sin, been accessary to another's sinning in 
any of these ways, and how many times. 

x Here also married persons must exa- 
mine, whether they have been guilty of 
any actions contrary to the purity and 
sanctity of their state. N. B. 2 Forni- 
cation is a carnal act between a single 
man and woman, between whom there 
is no impediment to marriage. 3 Incest 
is where the parties are related to each ' 
other within the degrees which prohibit 
marriage, and in confession it must be 
stated in what degree they were related. 
A Adultery is when one or both of the 
parties are married : if only one be mar- 
ried, it is called single, if both, it is called 



1 Have married persons any thing to examine under 
these commandments ? 

2 What is fornication ? 

3 What is incest ? 

4 What is adultery ?■ , 



123 



double adultery, 1 Here let the penitent 
observe, that if there be any thing which 
he does not understand in the sixth com- 
mandment, and he has the smallest doubt 
whether or not he has sinned in that way, 
he is bound to make the inquiry in con- 
fession. 

Under the seventh and tenth commandments. 

2 Whether he has cheated, stolen, or en- 
couraged others to cheat or steal, received 
stolen goods, neglected to pay his just 
debts, contracted debts without the pros- 
pect of being able to pay them, passed bad 
money, neglected work to which he was 
hired, neglected to make restitution for 
what he has stolen, coveted what be- 
longed to another, wished another's loss 
or misfortune, that he might gain by it, to 
what value, and how many times. N. B. 
3 When a person has wronged another of 
what belonged to him, he is bound to 
make full restitution, if it lies in his 
power : without this the sin cannot be 



1 What else must the penitent observe 1 

2 What must he examine under the seventh and 
tenth commandments ? 

3 What is a person bound to do who has wronged 
another P 



124 



forgiven. 1 If it be not in his power to 
make restitution, he must have the desire 
and intention of doing it as soon as pos- 
sible : with this view, he must endeavour 
by industry and economy to enable him- 
self to do it, and 2 if he neglect any op- 
portunity of restoring back what he owes, 
the guilt of the sin thereby returns upon 
him. 3 A person, also, who has been an 
accomplice in a theft, and has only receiv- j 
ed a share of the stolen goods, is bound 
to make restitution for the tvhole, if his 
accomplices refuse to restore back their 
shares. 

Under the eighth commandment. 

4 Whether he has borne false witness 
against a neighbour — disturbed another's 
peace of mind by insult, or reproaching 
him with his crimes — been guilty of ca- 
lumny, detraction, or backbiting, and be- 
fore how many persons — of listening to 



What, if it be not in his power to make restitu- 
tion ] 

2 What, if a person neglect to restore back what 
he owes ] 

3 What is to be observed respecting an accomplice 
in theft \ 

4 What must the sinner examine under the eighth I 
commandment ? 



125 



another whilst speaking ill of a neigh- 
bour — caused misunderstandings between 
neighbours, by carrying stories backwards 
and forwards — prying into, or revealing 
another's secret— rash judgment or lies — 
whether he has neglected to restore the 
good name of another when he has injured 
it — been accessary to another's commit- 
ting any of these sins, and how many 
times. N. B. 1 Calumny is telling a lie 
of another person to the injury of his 
good name. 2 Detraction is revealing 
the secret fault of another to the injury 
of his good name. 3 Detraction may also 
be committed by insinuation, interpret- 
ing the doubtful actions of another in the 
worst sense, by cool commendation, or 
by not speaking in another's defence. 
4 Whoever reveals either directly or indi- 
rectly a secret mortal sin of another, is 
himself guilty of a mortal sin of detrac- 
tion, unless when it is done to a parent or 
other superior, in order to the sinner's 
correction. 5 Backbiting is talking with 



1 What is calumny ? 

2 What is detraction ? 

3 Can detraction be committed in any other way ? 

4 What sin is it to reveal the secret mortal sin of 
another person 1 

5 What is backbiting ? 

11* 



12G 



pleasure about the knoivn failings or sins 
of a neighbour. 1 Rash judgment is wil- 
fully entertaining an unfavourable opinion 
in one's oicn mind of a neighbour with- 
out reasonable grounds. 

Under the precepts of the church, 

2 Whether he has ever omitted to hear 
mass on holydays, or neglected to observe 
those days in the same manner as Sun- 
days, eaten flesh meat on forbidden days,* 
or broken the days of fasting without 
leave from his pastor, neglected to go to 
confession once a }^ear, or to receive the 
holy communion at Easter, or made an 
unworthy communion at that time, re- 
ceived the blessed sacrament after having 
broken his fast, been married out of the 
church, been married at a forbidden time, 
or to a person related to him within the 
four degrees of kindred, been accessory to 
another's doing any of these things, and 
how many times. N. B. The precepts 
of the church are fully explained in the 
fourth chapter of this part. 



_ 1 What is rash judgment ? 

2 What must the sinner examine under the precepts 
of the church ? 



127 



Under the capital sins, 

1 Whether he has been guilty of pride 
or vanity by seeking after, or doing 
things in order to gain the applause of 
men — by boasting of his own perform- 
ances — by dispraising others, in order to 
exalt his own reputation — by being too 
obstinate in his own opinion — by self- 
complacency and esteem, and not giving 
to God the glory of w^hat he has done — 
of covetousness, by being too eager after 
the things of this world, or being too 
much elated in prosperity, or too much 
dejected under adversity — of gluttony, 
by eating or drinking to excess — of envy, 
by repining at the spiritual or temporal 
:good of another — of sloth, by being idle in 
performing his spiritual or temporal duties 
■ — been accessary to another's sinning in 
any of these ways, and how many times. 
N. B. The tw r o capital sins of lust and 
anger have been included under the fifth 
and sixth commandments. See the full ex- 
planation of the capital sins in the second 
chapter of this part. 2 Observe, also, that 



1 What must he examine under the capital sins ? 

2 What are the ways of being accessary to another's 
sin ? 



128 



there are nine ways of being accessary to 
another's sin, viz. 1st, by counsel : 2cL 
by command : 3d, by consent : 4th, by 
provocation : 5th, by flattery : 6th, by 
concealment: 7th, by partaking : 8th, by 
silence : 9th, by defence of the ill done. 

1 In the examination cf his conscience, 
the sinner must employ all the time and 
diligence which an affair of such import- 
ance requires. It has also been said, that 
it is necessary for him to ascertain, to the 
best of his power, the number of times 
that he has been guilty of each sin. Let 
him, however, remember, that the Al- 
mighty never requires impossibilities : 
2 Hence, if he has long lived in the fre- 
quent habit of one or more sins, and can- 
not call to his recollection the precise 
number of them, it suffices for him to 
ascertain first, the length of time that he 
has been addicted to such or such crimes, 
and then, as nearly as he can, the average 
number of times he has fallen into them 
in the day, the week, or the month. 
Having ascertained the different sins of 
which he has been guihy, together with 

1 What time and diligence are necessary in the ex- 
amination of conscience 7 

2 How must he who has long lived in habits of sin 
find out the number ? 



129 

the number of each of them, the third and 
most material part of the preparation for 
confession still remains to be performed, 
and that is, 1 to conceive a hearty sorrow 
for, and detestation of his sins, together 
with a firm resolution never more to 
commit them. 2 If he be able to read, he 
will find in the Garden of the Soul, and 
other manuals of devotion, excellent mo- 
tives to excite him to contrition, followed 
by affectionate. sentiments and resolutions: 
these he should peruse leisurely and atten- 
tively, so as to let the motives of contri- 
tion sink deep into his soul. Indeed, the 
lives of too many Christians, who go to 
the sacrament of penance, give just 
grounds to fear, that their contrition is 
rather in their prayer books than in their 
hearts ; and that, by performing this work 
of God negligently, they never reap from 
it the precious benefits which it is intend- 
ed to confer. 3 If he cannot read, he must 
humble himself before the offended ma- 
jesty of God, by the reflection that, by 
what he has committed, he has heinously 



1 What is the third and most material part of the 
preparation for confession 1 

2 How must those who can read excite themselves 
to sorrow for their sins 1 

3 What must those do who cannot read ? 



130 

offended him, and removed himself to 
such an immense distance from him, that 
it is utterly impossible he should ever 
make one step towards a return, unless 
the grace of God come to his assistance. 
With this conviction upon his mind, he 
must earnestly implore the divine help. 
He must further consider what immense 
happiness he has lost, and to what infinite 
and irremediable evils he has rendered 
himself liable by his sins. 1 But the best 
and most perfect motive to be sorry for 
his sins is, for the love of God, who is in- 
finitely good to all his creatures, and is in 
himself infinitely amiable. A due con- 
sideration of these motives will lead him 
to form in his heart corresponding senti- 
ments of compunction for his crimes, and 
a resolution to avoid for the future all sin, 
and the occasions of sin. The whole 
should be concluded by fervently reciting 
the acts of faith, hope, and charity ; after 
which, 2 if he really have in his heart 
that inward and sovereign sorrow for all 
his sins , grounded upon the motive of the 

love of God, and a sincere determination 


1 What is the best and most perfect reason to be 
sorry for sin? 

2 When may a person consider himself ready to go 
to confession 7 



181 



never to commit them more, he may go to 
confession, which should be made in the 
following manner. 

III. 2dly, At confession. 1 When the 
penitent sinner goes to confession, he must 
kneel down, make the sign of the cross, 
and ask the priest's blessing in these 
words : Pray, father, give me your 
blessing, for I have sinned. After he 
has received the blessing, he must say the 
confiteor, or / confess, fyc. as far as, 
through my most grievous fault. Then 
if it be his first confession, he must say, 
this is my first confession, and I am so 
many years of age. It is necessary to 
state his age, in order that the confessor 
may judge how many years he has been 
capable of mortal sin. 2 He must then 
proceed to make his confession in the 
order of the ten commandments, the 
precepts of the church, and the capital 
sins, as explained above, always being 
careful to state, as nearly as he can, the 
number of times he has committed each 
sin. If it be not his first confession, he 
must say : since my last confession, 



What form must the penitent observe when he 
goes to confession ] 

2 In what order must he make his confession 1 



132 



ivhich is so many weeks, or months ago, 
at which time I received absolution, and 
duly performed the penance enjoined, (if 
he did not receive absolution^ or did not 
duly perform the penance, he must say so,) 
/ accuse myself that I have sinned 
against the first commandment, <Scc. as 
above explained, always answering any 
questions put to him by his confessor, in 
order to ascertain more correctly the na- 
ture of his sins. 1 Having accused him- 
self of all the sins that he can remember, 
he must conclude in this manner : For 
these and all other my sins, ivhich I can^ 
not, at present, call to my rememhrance y 

1 am heartily sorry, purpose amend- 
ment for the future, most humbly ask 
pardon of Gcd, and penance and abso- 
lution of you, my ghostly father : : 
therefore I beseech the blessed virgin* 
Mary, and the rest of the confiteor* 

2 The confession being thus concluded, the . 
confessor is to judge of the case of the. 
penitent. If he sees just grounds to be- 
lieve that the person is truly sorry for his 
sins, and in good dispositions, he enjoins. 



1 How must he conclude ? 

2 What is the duly of the confessor towards a peni- 
tent whom he believes to be in good dispositions ? 



133 



a pe?ia?ice, of which the penitent should 
signify his acceptance by saying, yes. 
The priest then gives him advice as to the 
best means of avoiding a relapse and im- 
proving in virtue : after which, he ab- 
solves him from his sins in the name of 
Jesus Christ, and dismisses him in peace. 
1 If, on the contrary, he finds that the sin- 
ner has not broken his bad habits, or for- 
saken the immediate occasions of sin, has 
been wanting in the examination of his 
conscience, gives little signs of repentance, 
is ignorant of the principal mysteries of 
religion, will not restore the property or 
good name of his neighbour, or if, from 
any other circumstance, he has good 
grounds to judge that, for the present, he 
is unworthy of absolution, he gives him 
such admonitions as his case requires, and 
remands him to another time, ivithout 
giving him absolution, 

IV. 3dly, After confession. 2 As soon 
as the penitent has left the confessional, 
he must not immediately quit the chapel, 
but kneel down and return hearty 
thanks to Almighty God for his good- 



1 "What is his duty when he has good grounds to 
judge that the sinner is not well disposed ? 

2 What must the penitent do after confession ? 

12 



134 

ness to him, renew his resolutions of 
never more returning to his sins, meditate 
upon the good advice or instructions of 
his director, lay out a plan of life for the 
future, implore the divine help, as also the 
intercession of the blessed virgin Mary, 
and of all the heavenly court, that he may 
keep his resolutions. — 1 He must, also, be 
careful to perform the penance enjoined 
in confession precisely in the time and 
manner appointed : if no time was spe- 
cified, he should not delay it for any length 
of time, because, until it be discharged, 
the sacrament of penance is not complete. 
2 Moreover, if any restitution, either of 
the property or good name of his neigh- 
bour remains to be made, he mast make 
it ivithout delay. 3 If he has been re- 
fused absolution, he must with all humi- 
lity acknowledge before the Almighty his 
an worthiness , resolve to perform all that 
was enjoined him, and be careful to re- 
turn to confession at the appointed 
time. 4 If, after confession a person calls | 



1 What must he observe respecting his penance ? 

2 What if he has any restitution to make ? 

3 How must he act, who has been refused absolu- 
tion ? 

4 What must he do, who recollects a mortal sin 
after confession \ 



135 



to recollection any mortal sin, which be- 
fore had escaped his memory, he should 
not be disquieted, as it will suffice to con- 
fess it the first opportunity. 1 But, if 
he be going to approach the holy commu- 
nion, and, in that interval, should recollect 
a mortal sin which he had before forgot- 
ten, he should, according to the universal 
practice of the faithful, first make an act 
of contrition for the sin, and then return 
to confession. — 2 Should the sin which 
he remembers be only venial, it will 
suffice merely to make an an act of con- 
trition for it. 3 Let him, however, ob- 
serve, that when he accuses himself of a 
sin which had been forgotten in any former 
confession, he must not include it amongst 
his present sins, but state distinctly, that 
it is one which had been forgotten before. 
A want of such information might cause 
the confessor to form a very erroneous 
idea of the present state and dispositions 
of the penitent. 

V. In order to assist the ignorant in 



1 What must the person do, who calls to mind a 
mortal sin between his confession and communion? 

2 If the sin be only venial what is to be done ? 

3 What must a person be careful to do, who con- 
fesses a sin which had been forgotten in a former con- 
fession 1 



136 



acquiring a proper method of making their 
confessions, it may be of service to give 
examples of a jierfect and an imperfect 
confession, that is, of one, from which the 
confessor will gain a full knowledge of the 
state of the penitent, and of one, which 
will leave him under the necessity of : 
making inquiries. The confessions shall I 
be supposed to be only upon the first three 
commandments. 

Examples of a perfect confession. 

1 Since my last confession, which was 
three months ago, at which time I received 
absolution, and performed my penance, I 
accuse myself, that I have sinned against 
the first commandment, by neglecting, 
through sloth, to say my morning prayers 
four times a week: — Against the second 
commandment, by cursing a fellow crea- 
ture once a week, though not from my 
heart, neither did I use the name of God; 
by cursing my work three times a week, 
and by swearing in the hearing of one per- 
son, by the name of God, in what was true, 
about twice a week: — Against the third 
commandment, I have been obliged to be 



1 Give an example of a perfect confession. 



137 



absent from mass every other Sunday, but 
on one of those Sundays. I neglected to say 
prayers at home; I have also on two Sun- 
days done servile work without necessity, 
once for the space of an hour, and the other 
time for the space of half an hour. — From 
such an accusation as this, the confessor 
gains a full knowledge of the guilt of the 
penitent, without having to ask a single 
question. Bat if one, that is but ill in- 
structed in his duty, had been guilty of 
precisely the same sins, he would proba- 
bly make his confession somewhat in the 
following manner. 

Examples of an imperfect confession. 

1 Since my last confession I accuse my- 
self, that I have sinned against the first 
commandment, by often neglecting my 
morning prayers : — Against the second 
commandment, by cursing four times a 
week, and swearing twice a week: — 
Against the third commandment, by miss- 
ing mass every other Sunday, and working 
twice upon a Sunday. 2 Here, in the very 
beginning, the confessor is obliged to stop 



1 Give an example of an imperfect confession. 

2 In what is such a confession imperfect ?■ 

12* 



138 



the penitent to ascertain how long it is 
since his last confession, and whether he 
was then absolved, &c; then, hoiv many 
times in the week he has omitted his 
prayers, and whether from sloth or urgent 
necessity: — In the second commandment, 
he must inquire, in what way he cursed, 
whether he used the name of God, whe- 
ther he cursed himself, another person, 
or his work, and whether he cursed from 
his heart : then, as to swearing, he has to 
learn by what he swore, whether he swore 
to do an unlawful thing, or whether he 
swore to a lie or the truth; and lastly, 
both as to cursing and swearing, whether 
others, and how many heard him: — In the 
third commandment, from the accusation 
of the penitent, he cannot tell, whether he 
was guilty of a mortal sin by missing 
mass and doing servile work, or of no si?i 
at all. To ascertain this, he must be in- 
formed what was the cause of his omitting 
to hear mass; then, if the cause were a 
just one, he has further to ask, whether 
the penitent performed his devotions at 
home. And lastly, as to the servile work, 
he must inquire, whether the person 
worked from urgent necessity or not, 
and if not, what length of time was 
spent in it. 



139 



1 If a Christian, who leads a regular life 
and is accustomed frequently to approach 
the sacraments, after examining his con- 
science, cannot recollect any other than 
venial sins of frailty or surprise committed 
since his last confession, it is advisable for 
him to call to mind some one of his for- 
mer mortal sins, and renew his sorrow 
for it, with the intention of accusing him- 
self of it in confession; In this case, 
when he is at confession, after declaring 
all his venial sins, he must say: 1 likewise 
accuse myself that in my -past life I 
have been guilty of such a sin {naming 
what it is) which I have before confessed, 
and then conclude his confession in the 
manner laid down above: For these and 
all other sins, eye. 2 The reason of this 
advice is, not that venial sins alone are not 
sufficient matter for absolution, provided 
they be confessed with sincere repentance 
and a firm resolution of amendment and 
avoiding sin; but there are few Christians 
who arrive at that degree of perfection to 
be able to conceive a sovereign hatred and 
detestation of venial sin, and were a person 



' What is it advisable for a Christian to do, who 
leads a regular life and can recollect none but venial sins? 
2 Why is this advice given ? 



140 



to be absolved from venial sin only, with- 
out his having true contrition, the absolu- 
tion would be invalid, and he would be 
guilty of sacrilege. 

1 If, for want of diligent examination 
of his conscience, through gross igno- 
rance of his duty, shame, malice, or the 
like, a penitent omits one mortal sin in 
confession, or one about which he even 
doubts whether it be mortal or not, his 
confession is null and sacrilegious: and if 
he continues afterwards to approach the 
sacrament of penance, without accusing 
himself of the sin which he before omitted, 
as well as of the sacrilege which he com- 
mitted, he is every time guilty of a fresh 
sacrilege, 2 which cannot be repaired with- 
out repeating the first, and all the follow- 
ing confessions. If, however, he goes 
to the same confessor, and he has at least 
a confused recollection of his past confes- 
sions, it may suffice to accuse himself of 
them again in general terms only. 3 The 
same is to be said of a person who has 
ever approached the tribunal of penance 



1 In what cases is confession null and sacrilegious ? 

2 How Is a sacrilegious confession to be -repaired ? 

3 What is to be done by those who have crone to 
confession without a true sorrow for their sins ? 



141 



without a true sorrow for his sins. 1 It is, 
moreover, frequently a wise precaution for 
a Christian to make a general confession 
of his whole life, especially if he have any 
reason to doubt of the validity of his past 
performances, and it may be observed, 
that speedy and frequent relapses into 
sin after confession are sufficient cause for 
entertaining such doubt. 2 To persons, 
however, of a timid and scrupulous dis- 
position, a general confession may not only 
be unprofitable, but even dangerous and 
improper. 3 In this point, therefore, every 
humble Christian should suffer himself to 
be guided by the advice of his director. 

4 A penitent must always endeavour to 
make his confession in the plainest and 
most simple terms that he can, that is, with 
a real desire of revealing all his sins just 
as he believes they are in the sight of God, 
without either seeking excuses for them, 
or representing them in a more heinous 
light than they deserve. He must not 
enter into long and useless details of cir- 
cumstances, which neither alter the nature 
of his sins, nor involve any aggravation. 

1 For whom is a general confession advisable ? 

2 To whom may it be dangerous and improper ? 

3 By what must a Christian be guided in this respect 1 

4 In what terras must a penitent make his confession T 



142 



1 Neither must he reveal the sin of ano- 
ther person, vnless from necessity ; as, 
for example, when he cannot otherwise 
make an entire confession of what he him- 
self has committed. 2 Since the confession 
of sin is a duty so repugnant to human 
nature, it may be proper to state, that the 
same divine law which enforces on the 
sinner the obligation of confessing his sins, 
enjoins also on the confessor the strictest 
obligation of perpetual secrecy, so that 
he cannot, on any account whatsoever, 
even to save his own life, reveal a sin 
which he knows only by confession, or 
make any use of the knowledge which he 
thereby acquires, that can be in the least 
disagreeable to the penitent; because, what 
he knows from confession alone, he knows, 
not as a man, but only as the minister of 
Jesus Christ. 3 There is also a natural 
obligation of secrecy on the part of the 
penitent, as to what is said to him in con- 
fession: 4 hence, the practice of too many 
young persons of telling their penances 

1 Is it ever lawful to reveal in confession the sin of 
another person ? 

2 What is the nature of the secrecy of confession 
with regard to the confessor ? 

3 What secrecy is binding upon the penitent ? 

4 What is to be said of those who tell others their 
penances and the advice given them by their confessors 1 



143 



and speaking of the advice given them by 
their confessors, cannot be too severely 
condemned, as it generally argues a degree 
of disrespect towards the sacrament and 
God's minister, and may give others ocea~ 
sion of temptation or rash judgment. 



CHAPTER THE NINTH. 

I. Holy eucharisl.- — II. Preparation for commu- 
nion. — III. How to receive communion. — IV. Devo- 
tion after communion. — V. Frequent communion. 

I. 66 Our Saviour/' 5 says the council of 
Trent,* " being about to depart from this 
world and return to his Father, instituted 
the sacrament of the etieharist, in which 
he has poured forth the riches of his love 
for men, and given them a memorial of his 
wonders: and in receiving it he has com- 
manded us to cherish the remembrance of 
him, and to show forth his death until he 
comes to judge the world. He wishes us 
to receive it as. the spiritual food of our 
souls, and as an antidote to deliver us from 
our daily faults, and to preserve us from 
mortal sin. He intended it, moreover, to 
be a pledge of future glory and eternal 



* Sess. xiiL c, 2,. 



144 



happiness." Such being the intentions of 
Jesus Christ, all Christians ought to be 
particularly solicitous to learn in what 
manner they should approach to the holy 
table, in order to fulfil those intentions, 
and reap from it the inestimable benefits 
which are destined for such as approach 
to it in worthy dispositions. . 1 With the 
view of instructing them in this point, in 
the three following paragraphs will be ex- 
plained, 1st, the manner of preparing 
for communion : 2dly, how to receive 
it : and Sdly, what the devotion should 
be after receiving it : to which will be 
subjoined a paragraph on frequent com- 
munion. 

II. Before communion. 2 A person 
who desires to communicate must, in the 
first place, propose to himself a right in- 
tention. 3 It is to be feared, that many 
go to communion at certain times merely 
through custom, for fear of being noticed 
if they stay away : others because a pa- 
rent or superior desires them : and some 



1 What are the practical duties which Christians 
must know relative to the blessed eucharist ? 

2 What is the first thing a person must do who de- 
signs to communicate 1 

3 What are the improper intentions which it is to 
be feared too many have in going to communicate ? , 



145 



even through vanity that they may be 
thought devout. 1 Now to communicate 
through vanity is highly sinful : 2 and to 
do it merely through custom for fear of 
being noticed, or because a superior wishes 
it, would render the communion fruit* 
less. It is true, persons may take occa- 
sion from the desire of a superior, or from 
the recurrence of certain times, such as 
those of the plenary indulgences, to pre- 
pare themselves for communion, but then 
they must be careful to do it through pro- 
per motives. 3 These are, 1st, with refer- 
ence to God, to honour and glorify him,, 
and to commemorate the sufferings and 
death of his Son, Jesus Christ : 4 and 2dly, 
tuith reference to themselves, to sanctify 
their own souls, to obtain grace to over- 
come temptation, to acquire some parti- 
cular virtue, to understand the will of God 
in the choice of a state of life, or the like : 
or, to return thanks to the Almighty, 
through Jesus Christ, for some particular 

1 What i3 to be said of communicating through 
vanity ? 

2 What is the consequence of doing it merely 
through custom, or for fear of being noticed, or to. 
comply with the wish of a superior ] 

3 What are the motives for going to communion 
with reference to God? 

4 What are the motives with reference to ourselves ? 

13 



145 

blessing. 1 It is also proper and chari- 
table to offer up one's communion in be- 
half of others, such as, for the conversion 
of sinners, and the relief of souls suffer- 
ing in purgatory. After proposing to 
himself a right intention, the next thing 
that a Christian must attend to, are the i 
dispositions in which he must communi- 
cate. 2 Now, there are two dispositions 
requisite by way of preparation for com- 
munion : the one regards the body, the 
other the soul. 3 The disposition of the 
body is, to be fasting from midnight, 
so that, on the clay of communion, no- 
thing, however inconsiderable in quantity, 
should have been received into the sto- 
mach, either as meat, drink, or physic, 
from twelve o'clock at night. This insti- 
tution is of the greatest antiquity in the 
church. 4 The intention of it is, to show 
respect to the blessed sacrament. 5 So 
strict is the necessity of this fast, that, 
were a person to receive communion after 

1 Is it good to offer one's communion in behalf of 
others ? 

' 2 What are the disjjositions requisite for commu- 
nion 1 

3 What is the disposition of the body ? 

4 What is the intention of it 1 

5 What sin would it be to receive after having 
broken one's fast 1 



having broken it, or even when he has 
rational grounds for doubting whether he 
had broken it or not, he would be guilty 
of a mortal sin. 1 The only exception 
that is made to this rule is, in favour of 
persons in danger of death, who are 
allowed to receive communion by way of 
viaticum, without being fasting — and this 
not merely once in their sickness, but 
oftener, if they continue for any length of 
time dangerously ill. 2 The law of fasting 
before communion, however, does not 
prevent a person from w ashing his 
mouth on the morning of communion, 
provided he be careful not to swallow any 
thing more than that moisture which must 
necessarily remain in his mouth, and pass 
into the stomach in the nature of spittle. 
3 The disposition of the sguI comprises 
the distant and the immediate prepara- 
tion, 4 The distant preparation consists 
in purifying the soul from the guilt of all 
mortal sin, and from the affection to 
venial sin. 5 The Christian who is con- 



l Js there any exception to this law of fasting ! 

2 Is it proper to ivash out the mouth before commu- 
nion 1 

3 What is the disposition of the soul? 

4 In what does the distant preparation consist 1 

5 What must he do who is conscious of mortal sin ? 



148 



scious to himself of mortal sin, is obliged 
to approach to the sacrament of penance 
before he goes to communion. 1 More- 
over, when a person has been living in 
the habit of any vice, particularly if that 
habit should have been accompanied with 
public scandal, reverence to the adorable 
sacrament and the duty of repairing the 
scandal given seem to require, that a cer- 
tain length of time should intervene 
between his confession and communion. 
2 For this reason it is often highly proper 
that a confessor should forbid a penitent to 
approach to the holy communion imme- 
diately after confession, although he may 
be satisfied with his dispositions, and have 
given him absolution. 3 Every Christian, 
who desires to receive communion, should 
also lay aside the affection even to venial 
si)i, by which affection is understood a dis- 
regard for committing these lesser sins, or 
living in the habit of one or more of them, 
without wishing or endeavouring to 



1 Should those who have been living in habits of sin 
communicate immediately after confession ? 

2 May a confessor forbid one whom he has absolved, 
to go to communion 1 

3 Is it necessary to lay aside the affection even to 
venial sin before receiving ] 



149 



amend, 1 This is generally the case of 
those who live in the frequent neglect of 
prayer, who pray with little attention, 
who do not strive to cultivate in their souls 
a spirit of penance, who pay but small 
attention to their advancement in virtue, 
who are too much in love with the world 
and its vanities, who are addicted to diso- 
bedience in lesser things. Jo anger, lies, 
&c. The consequences, however, cf re- 
ceiving communion in the state of mortal 
sin, and that of receiving it with an affec- 
tion to venial sin, are very different. 2 He 
that receives in mortal sin is guilty of a 
most grievous sacrilege by profaning the 
body and blood of Christ, and, in the lan- 
guage of St. Paul,7ze eatet/i and drinketh 
judgment to himself:* 3 whereas, by re- 
ceiving with an affection to venial sin 
only, he does not commit a sacrilege, but 
deprives himself of the fruit or benefit 
which he would otherwise derive from his 
communion. 4 The immediate prepara- 

1 Who are they that have an affection to venial sin ? 

2 What is the consequence of receiving in mortal 
sin '? 

3 What is the consequence of receiving with an affec- 
tion to xenial sin only ? 

4 What is the immediate preparation ? 

* 1 Cor. xi. 29. 

1 



150 



tion consists in performing certain acts 
of devotion before communion. — 1 Those 
who can read will find in the Catholic 
Piety, and other prayer books, medita- 
tions and devotions by way of prepara- 
tion ; these they should read attentively 
and devoutly for some days beforehand, 
or at least in the evening before and on 
the morning of communion. 2 Those 
who cannot read would do well to procure 
some other person to read for them the 
above-named meditations and devotions : 
but, if this cannot conveniently be done, 
they must excite in their souls, 1st, a 
lively faith in the real presence of Jesus 
Christ, whom they are going to receive : 
2dly, a firm hope in his infinite mercy and 
goodness : 3dly, an ardent love of their 
divine Saviour : 4thly, a profound humi- 
lity, grounded upon a sense of their un- 
worthiness to receive into their breasts 
the Lord of glory : 5thly, a boundless 
gratitude for all his goodness, especially 
that which induced him to institute this 
adorable sacrament : and lastly, a holy 
eagerness and desire to receive and be 
united to Jesus Christ. 



1 How should such as can read prepare themselves 1 

2 What must those do, who cannot read ? 



151 



III. M communion. 1 When the time 
of communion has arrived, which is im- 
mediately after the bell has been rung at 
the Domine non sum dignus, those who 
are to communicate must advance slowly, 
and with reverence to the altar rails, and 
there kneel down. 2 Whilst the clerk, in 
the name of the communicants, is reciting 
the Confiteor, let them renew, in the pre- 
sence of God, their grief 'for all their past 
disloyalties to him, and call upon the whole 
court of heaven, who are spectators of the 
sacred action which they are performing, 
to intercede with the Almighty in their 
behalf. 3 The Confiteor being concluded, 
the priest turns round and gives the com- 
municants the general absolution, which 
they must receive with their heads bowed 
down. 4 When the priest is saying in 
their name, Domine non sum dignus, &c. 
that is, Lord, I am not worthy that thou 
shouldst enter under my roof but only 
say the word and my soul shall be 



1 When must those who are to communicate ap- 
proach to the altar rails 1 

2 What must they do whilst the clerk is saying the 
Confiteor ? 

1 How must they receive the general absolution ? 
4 What must be their devotion, whilst the priest is 
saying, Domine non sum dignus, $c. 



152 



healed, (which he thrice repeats,) let the?7i 
Join in those humble sentiments, bor- 
rowed by the church from the centurion 
mentioned in the gospel,* who in nearly 
the same words expressed his unworthi- 
ness to receive even into his house that 
sacred person whom they are just going 
to receive into their breasts. 1 The mo- 
ment of communion being arrived, they 
must take hold of the towel that hangs 
before the rails with the fore finger and 
thumb of each hand, and stretch out 
their other fingers beneath it, holding it 
as low as they conveniently can against 
their breasts whilst the priest is giving 
them the communion. 2 The use of the 
towel is, not to wipe the mouth with it, as 
some are apt to, but to prevent any par- 
ticle of the host from falling to the 
ground. 3 As it comes to their respective 
turns to receive, they must raise their 
heads to a moderate height, cast down, 
their eyes, open their mouths, and place 
their tongues in such manner upon their 

1 How must they hold the towel ? 

2 What is the use of the towel ] 

3 How must they do, as it comes to their respective 
turns to receive 1 



* Matt. via. 8. 



153 



under teeth, that the holy sacrament may 
be laid upon them conveniently. 1 The 
priest in giving communion says to each 
one, Corpus Domini, &c. that is, May 
the body of our Lord Jesus Christ pre- 
serve thy soul to everlasting life, Amen ; 
at which time their interior must give full 
scope to the liveliest sentiments of faith, 
hope, charity, and the other virtues men- 
tioned above in the preparation for com- 
munion. 2 Then, drawing back their 
tongues and closing their mouths, they 
must let the sacred host moisten a little 
and so receive it into the stomach, being 
careful to prevent it from touching their 
teeth, and by no means attempting to touch 
it with their fingers. After this they must 
retire to their places to perform their de- 
votions after communion. 3 It may here, 
also, be proper to mention, that after com- 
municating, persons ought to abstain from 
spitting for the space of at least a quar- 
ter of an hour. 



1 What must be their devotion at the time of receiv- 
ing? 

2 How must they act when they have received the 
blessed sacrament upon their tongues ? 

3 How long should persons refrain from spitting 
after communion 1 



154 



IV. After communion. 1 No ?noments 
can be more precious to a Christian soul 
than those which follow a worthy com- 
munion, and upon the manner in which 
these are spent, much of the fruit of com- 
munion depends. 2 Those, therefore; who 
are duly sensible of the important action 
which they have been performing, will be 
careful to spend as much time as they con- 
veniently can in devotion after commu- 
nion, and, without the most urgent neces- 
sity, no one should spend less than a 
quarter qf an hour. 3 Those who can 
read, after giving a few moments to 
interior acts of adoration, praise, and 
thanksgiving, may make use of the acts 
which are to be found in their prayer 
books. 4 Those, however, who are not 
able to read, must endeavour to perform 
in the best manner they can the follow- 
ing acts : — 1st, to bow down their souls 
to adore Jesus Christ truly present with- 
in their breasts ; 2dly, to thank him and 
to invite all the angels and saints in 



1 What should a Christian think of the moments 
luhicJi follow a worthy communion ? 

2 What length of time ought to be spent in devotion 
after communion ? 

3 What devotion must those ivho con read practise ? 

4 What must be done by such ars cannot read ? 



155 



heaven to join with them in blessing and 
praising him for the great and inestimable 
gift which he has bestowed upon them : 
3dly, to offer themselves, that is, their 
souls and bodies, together with all the 
thoughts, words and actions of their lives, 
to him, in return for all that he has done 
for them : 4thly, to lay before him all 
their wants and necessities : and lastly, 
to pray for their fellow creatures, both 
friends and enemies, for the whole state 
of the church, and for the souls in purga- 
tory. 1 All Christians should, morever, 
on the day of communion, keep them- 
selves more than usually recollected, by 
calling to mind from time to time in the 
midst of their worldly occupations, the 
great gift which they have received, and 
renewing in a short way their acts of 
thanksgiving, praise, and adoration : and 
in the evening, reading or listening to 
others whilst reading some pious book. 
2 On those who communicate in this man- 
ner, the choicest treasures of divine grace 
will be poured down with a liberal hand ; 
they will become so united to Jesus 

1 How should the day of communion be spent 1 

2 What are the blessings which attend a worthy 
communion ? 



156 



Christ, that he will abide in them and 
they in him ; the spiritual life of grace 
will be preserved and increased in their 
souls ; their inclinations to evil will be 
diminished, and the violence of their pas- 
sions weakened : they will in short, re- 
ceive a pledge of that glorious resurrec- 
tion, which will lead them to behold face 
to face for all eternity that divine and ado- 
rable body, which is here concealed from 
their view by the veil of the sacrament. 
1 Whereas, on the other hand, those who 
communicate un worthily. gene rallybecome 
abandoned by the Almighty ; they fall 
into blindness of understanding and hard- 
ness of heart : they contract a familiarity 
with every kind of vice, which in the end, 
leads them to final impenitence and eter- 
nal damnation. 

V. 2 Although the church only com- 
mands her children to communicate once 
a year, yet she wishes and exhorts them 
to do it much more frequently. 3 Fre- 
quent communion, however, is not equally 
advisable for all, as in this due regard 



1 What are the effects of an unworthy communion? 

2 What is to be said of frequent communion P 

3 Is it equally to be recommended to all ? 



157 



must be had to the dispositions of each 
one. 1 Those should communicate once a 
month, or at the plenary indulgences, who 
are free from the habit of every mortal 
sin: who seldom fall into mortal sin, and 
that only through surprise or human frail- 
ty, and who, when they have had that 
misfortune, immediately return to God by 
sincere repentance. 2 For Christians to be 
worthy to communicate once a iveek or 
oftener, greater perfection is required : 
they should always live in the state of 
grace, so as never to commit a mortal 
sin : they should be free from every af- 
fection to the least venial sin, they 
should have a longing desire to communi- 
cate, and always prepare themselves for 
it with great fervour, and daily labour in 
earnest to advance in the paths of perfec- 
tion. 3 From this it may be inferred, that 
those who live in the habit of any one 
mortal sin are never worthy to comma- 
nicate, and that a confessor is bound to 



1 What dispositions are requisite to communicate 
once a month, or at the plenary indulgences 1 

2 What dispositions are requisite for communicating 
once a week or oftener 1 

3 What is to be said respecting such as live in the 
habit of any mortal sin ?■ 

14 



158 



refuse to suffer those to receive commu- 
nion, who are constantly falling into 
mortal sin. 



CHAPTER THE TENTH. 

I. Hearing inass. — II. Visits to the blessed sacra* 
ment and benediction. 

I. The nature of that most sacred and 
solemn part of the Christian worship, the 
eucharistic sacrifice, which we call the 
mass, having been explained in the ninth 
chapter of the first part, all that remains 
to complete the instruction of Christians 
on that head is, to teach them how to hear 
mass. 1 Those who can read, will find in 
different prayer books various methods 
of hearing mass, all of which are good, 
and any one of which may be used accord- 
ing to each one's devotion. 2 The task, 
however, of teaching such as cannot read 
to hear mass with fruit, is attended with 
some difficulty, which difficulty arises, not 
from the nature of the mass itself, but 

J How should those who can read hear mass ? 
2 Whence arises the difficulty of teaching such as 
cannot read to hear mass I 



159 



from their not having a. proper under- 
standing of what the mass is. 1 The first 
step, therefore, towards teaching those 
who cannot read how to hear mass is, to 
make them understand the nature of a sa- 
crifice in general, and then to show them 
how the mass is a sacrifice, and in what it 
consists. To do this, it may be of ser- 
vice to state here in short, (what in the 
former part was explained at length,) 2 that 
a sacrifice is an external offering . made 
to Mmiglity God by a proper minister, 
as an acknowledgment of his being the 
Lord and master of all things, 3 and that 
Jesus Christ, having once offered himself 
upon the cross in sacrifice to his Father, 
instituted the mass to be a daily renewal 
and memorial of that sacrifice, and the 
means of applying to the souls of Chris- 
tians the benefit of his death upon the 
cross. 4 The mass, therefore, is the sa- 
crifice of the body and blood of Jesus 
Christ, for, 5 although in the mass Christ 
does not really die, yet his death is re- 



1 What is the first step to be taken for this purpose 1 

2 What is~ a sacrifice ? 

3 For what purpose was the mass instituted ] 

4 What is the mass . ? 

5 In what manner is Jesus Christ offered 1 



160 



presented by the separate consecration 
of bread into his body, and of wine into 
his blood ; and under this representation 
of death he offers himself by the hands 
of the priest. 1 Hence it belongs to the 
priest alone to offer the sacrifice, and for 
this reason it is not requisite that the peo- 
ple should say the very prayers which he 
says. 2 The duty of the people is, to join 
their intention ivith his ; and, as Christ 
offered himself upon the cross for four 
intentions, so he is offered for the same in 
the mass. 3 These intentions are: 1st, 
for the honour and glory of God : 2dly, 
in thanksgiving to God for all his be- 
nefits : 3dly, to obtain the pardon of our 
si?is : and 4th ly, to obtain for us all other 
graces and blessings which we stand in 
need of. 4 If this be well understood, 
nothing can be more easy than to teach 
those who cannot read how to hear mass 
profitably. It may be done in the folio w- 



1 Who offers the sacrifice 1 

2 What is the duty of the people ? 

2 What are the intentions for which the mass is 
offered 1 

4 Is it easy for such as understand the mass to assist 
at it with profit, although they cannot read ? 



161 



ing manner. 1 Let them before mass be- 
gins, or the very beginning, form in their 
minds the aforesaid intentions by saying 
this prayer, or some other to the same 
effect :— my God, behold I am come 
here this day to commemorate the suf- 
fering and death of thy Son, my Sa- 
viour, Jesus Christ, and to join with 
him and his minister in offering to thee 
his sacred body and blood : 1st, for thy 
honour and glory : 2dly, to make thee 
a return of thanks through him for all 
the benefits which thou hast bestowed 
upon me and upon all mankind : 3dly, 
to obtain through him the pardon of all 
my sins and of those of all others : and 
4thly, to beg that thou wilt grant to me 
and all others, through the merits of his 
sufferings and death, all the graces and 
blessings of ivhich we are in need, 2 This 
being done, they may divide the mass into 
four parts, 3 the first, from the beginning 
to the gospel — the second, from the gospel 
to the consecration — the third, from the 
consecration to the communion — and the 



J What must they do at the beginning of mass ? 

2 Into how many parts must they divide it 7 

3 Which are those parts 1 

14* 



162 



fourth, from the communion to the end. 

1 In the first part, that is, from the begin- 
ning to the gospel, after considering for a 
few moments the great injury that has 
been done to God's honour and glory by 
the sins of mankind, and rejoicing that 
this injury has been repaired by the sacri- 
fice of his Son, they may say devoutly 
five Paters, five Jives, and one Creed. — 

2 In the second part, that is, from the gos- 
pel to the consecration, after considering 
the many benefits which the Almighty has 
bestowed upon them and upon all man- 
kind, particularly by having sent his di- 
vine Son into the world for their sakes, 
they may say five more Paters and *dves, 
and one Creed. 3 During the consecration 
and elevation, they should bow down their 
heads to adore Jesus Christ, who then be- 
comes present upon the altar, and offers 
himself in sacrifice. 4 In the third part, 
that is, from after the elevation to the 
priest's communion, after having called 
to mind the principal sins of their post 

1 What must they do during the first part ! 

2 What must they do during the second part? 

3 What must be their devotion during the consecra- 
tion and the elevation ? 

4 What must the do during the third part? 



163 



lives, and especially those which they may 
have lately committed, and made a sincere 
act of contrition for them, they may say 
other five Paters and */2t'es,and one Creed. 
1 Whilst the priest is communicating, they 
should make a spiritual communion by 
conceiving in their souls an ardent desire 
to receive Jesus Christ, and making an 
act of the love of him ; to which end they 
may say : Come, Jesus, and take full 
possession of my soul. Oh ! that 1 
could die for the love of thee, ivho wast 
pleased to die for love of me. 2 In the 
fourth part, that is, from after the com- 
munion to the end, after considering what 
graces and blessings they stand most in 
need of, and those which they wish to ask 
in behalf of others, either living or dead, 
let them pray for them by saying five 
more Paters and Jives , and one Creed. 
3 Should, however, the capacity of any 
persons be so dull as not to be able to ac- 
quire this easy method of hearing mass, 



1 What should be their devotion whilst the priest is 
communicating ? 

2 What must they do during the fourth part ! 

3 Should there be any persons so dull as not to be 
able to acquire this method of hearing mass, what must 
they be taught to do ? 



164 



they must be taught to offer it up for 
these four intentions at the beginning, 
and to fill up the time by saying Paters, 
Aves, and any other devout prayers, and, 
also, occasionally, to adore Jesus Christ, 
meditate upon his passion and death, 
pray in the best manner they can for 
their own and other's necessities. 

II. 1 Wherever Jesus Christ is, there he 
is deserving of and entitled to our adora- 
tion, and, as faith obliges us to believe that 
he is truly present in our tabernacles, 
under the sacramental species, so it ought 
to be one of the great objects of devotion 
with all Christians whenever they enter a 
chapel where the holy sacrament is pre- 
served, to offer him their adorations and 
worship. 2 The rules of all religious com- 
munities prescribe to their members fre- 
quent visits throughout the day to the 
blessed sacrament ; and, although Chris- 
tians who live in the world are precluded 
from the opportunity of doing it so often, 
yet all who truly love Jesus Christ will 
be careful to pay him their visits as fre- 

1 What should be our devotion before the blessed 
sacrament ? 

2 Is it commendable frequently to visit Jesus Christ 
in the blessed sacrament 1 



165 



quently as circumstances icill permit. 
1 On these occasions they must entertain 
themselves in familiar intercourse with 
him, and expose to him their wants and 
necessities : they must make acts of faith, 
hope, love, adoration, praise and thanks- 
giving, and communicate spiritually, 
by conceiving in their souls an ardent de- 
sire to be united to him, and making an 
entire offering of themselves to him. 2 Such 
must, also, be their devotion, when they 
are present at that solemn act of worship 
called benediction, which has been ex- 
plained in the first part ; and when, at the 
conclusion, the officiating priest turns 
round with the blessed sacrament in his 
hand to give the benediction, they must 
bow down their heads, and with all fer- 
vour and humility crave the blessing of 
Jesus Christ. 



1 What must be the devotion of Christians on those 
occasions 1 

2 What must be the devotion of those who assist at 

benediction ? 



166 



CHAPTER THE ELEVENTH. 

I. Sickness. — II. Extreme unction. — III. Last 
benediction. 

I. The sin of our first parents rendered 
our souls liable to eternal death, and our 
bodies to a variety of pains and infirmities, 
which are the usual forerunners of our 
earthly dissolution. 1 All Christians are 
bound during the d&ys of health to keep 
in order their affairs as well temporal 
as spiritual. But if they have unhappily 
neglected this, the duty of doing it becomes 
more argent when the Almighty is pleased 
to visit them with sickness. 2 By neglect- 
ing the speedy settlement of their temporal 
affairs they often expose themselves to the 
danger of dying under the guilt of in- 
justice to their neighbours, or of leaving 
behind them the seeds of division in their 
families. 3 Those who are conscious to 
themselves of being in the state of mortal 
sin, by deferring their return to God, run 

What is the duty of sick persons ? 

2 To what do those expose themselves who neglect 
to settle their worldly affairs ? 

3 To what do those sinners expose themselves, who, 
under sickness, defer their return to God? 



167 



the greatest hazard of dying in that state, 
for, to make a good confession and effect a 
sincere reconciliation with God, even when 
in health, is a difficult task! how much 
more so. then, must it be, when they have 
delayed it until they become oppressed 
with grievous sickness, and their minds 
being stupihed with pain, have no longer 
the power to think seriously of any thing. 
1 Hence although the infinite goodness of 
God forbids us to despair of the salvation 
of those who defer this work until the last 
extremity, yet reason tells us, ice have 
every thing to fear and little to hope for 
then. 2 For this reason, the friendship 
of those who neglect to warn people in 
sickness of their danger, is quite mis- 
placed. If they feel a sincere regard for 
them, they ought much more to dread their 
appearing before God unprepared, than 
any evil effects that can arise from a true 
representation of their danger, 3 When- 
ever, therefore, persons are visited with 



1 What is to be thought of such as jStft off their con- 
version to the last extremity ? 

2 Is it the duty of the friends of sick persons to warn 
them of their danger ? 

3 What is the first thing that a person should do 
under sickness ! 



168 



serious infirmity, they should immediately 
attend to the affair of their souls, by 
examining their consciences, and exciting 
in their hearts a true sorrovj for their 
sins. 1 They should then desire some of 
those who are about them to send for spi- 
ritual assistance. If they be suddenly 
taken so ill as to be considered in great 
danger of death, no time should be lost 
in this. In ordinary cases, however, due 
respect for their pastors, and the remem- 
brance of the many duties which they 
generally have to perform, will lead them 
to consult as much as possible their con- 
venience, so as not to trouble them at un- 
seasonable hours without real necessity. 
2 The office of a pastor towards those of 
his flock who are dangerously ill is, to ad- 
minister to them the sacrament of penance? 
the holy eucharist by way of viaticum, 
and extreme unction, together with a 
plenary indulgence and the last blessing 
of the church. 

II. The nature, the necessity and the 
effects of the sacrament of extreme unc- 



1 What should they do next ? 

2 What is the office of a pastor towards those of his 
flock who are dangerously ill I 



169 



tion have been explained in the tenth 
chapter of the foregoing part; x and since, 
as it there appears, it is designed by the 
Almighty to enable the sick to bear their 
sufferings with patience and resignation, 
and also, when the good of their souls 
requires it, to restore them to health, the 
receiving of it should by no means be de- 
ferred until the last extremity. 2 Provided 
they be duly prepared, the sooner they re- 
ceive it after they become in moral danger 
of death, the better. 3 When sick persons 
enjoy the use of their reason, they ought 
to dispose themselves for it by suitable 
acts of virtue, particularly of faith, hope, 
charity, contrition, and resignation. — - 
They should also pray that the holy unc- 
tion which they are about to receive may 
produce in them the fruits for which it was 
instituted; 4 and, whilst the minister of 
God is anointing the eyes, ears, &c, they 
ought, with contrite and humble hearts, to 
implore the divine mercy to pardon them 
whatever sins they may have committed 
by their different senses and members. 

1 For what purposes was extreme unction instituted 1 

2 How soon should it be received ? 
2 How should persons dispose themselves to receive it 1 
4 What should be their devotion whilst receiving it ? 

15 



170 



III. 1 The pastors of souls are, more- 
over, empowered to grant a plenary in- 
dulgence together with the blessing of the 
supreme head of the church to such as are 
in the last extremity of sickness. 3 To 
receive the benefit of these, they ought to 
excite themselves to a lively faith in 
Jesus Christ, and entire confidence in his 
mercy and goodness; to offer their whole 
souls to him, to love him for all eternity, 
to beg pardon from the bottom of their 
hearts for all their sins, and willingly to 
accept of death as the punishment of them. 
3 As soon as they have received these sacred 
rites of the church, they should return 
hearty thanks to God for having favoured 
them with these helps in their sickness, 
and from that time, thinking as little as 
possible of the affairs of this tvorld, turn 
their entire attention to death and eter- 
nity, 4 The duty of fraternal charity re- 
quires that those who are employed about 



1 What other spiritual helps are administered in 
sickness "? 

2 How must they be received? 

s What should be the devotion and occupation of the 
sick after they have received the rites of the church ? 

4 What should those who attend the sick do for 
them] 



171 



the sick should afford them all the spiritual 
help that lies in their power, by encou- 
raging them to patience and resignation, 
speaking to them of the mercies of God, 
and repeating to them at intervals prayers 
and pious ejaculations, 1 and especially 
whilst they are in their agony, if they be 
sensible, making for them short acts of 
faith, hope, charity, and contrition. — 
They should likewise, at that time, say 
the recommendation of a departing 
soul, -which may be found in the Catholic 
Piety, and other prayer-books. 



1 What must they do for them, when they are in 
their agony ? 



172 



CHAPTER THE TWELFTH. 

I. Holy orders. — II. Religious state. 

I. The nature and effects of the sacra- 
ment of holy orders haying been suffi- 
ciently laid down in the eleventh chapter 
of the first part, it is useless, in a work 
like the present, to dwell upon all the 
practical duties appertaining to it. 1 Suffice 
it, therefore, to state three things which 
should be generally known : 1st, that 
there are certain defects of the mind and 
others of the body, called irregularities , 
which render those in whom they exist, 
incapable of entering into holy orders. 
What these irregularities are, may be 
easily learnt from their pastors by those 
whom it may concern to know them. 
2dly, That there are certain dispositions 
requisite in those who would enter the 
ecclesiastical state : which are a zeal for 
the glory of God and the salvation of 
souls : a disengagement of affection from 
the world ; a competent share of talent 
and knowledge to render them of service 



1 What are the three things that should be generally 
known respecting the sacrament of holy orders ? 



173 



to the church ; and a love of prayer, re- 
tirement, study, and labour. 3dly, That 
they must be called to that state by Al- 
mighty God : neither ', says St. Paul, doth 
any man take the honour to himself, 
but he that is called by God, as Jlaron. 
So Christ also did not glorify himself 
that he might be made a high priest : 
but he that spoke to him ; Thou art my 
Son, this day have I begotten thee* 

1 Those men may believe themselves truly 
called to the priesthood who, being in the 
dispositions just enumerated, are led to 
embrace it by the advice, or with the ap- 
probation of a wise and virtuous director. 

2 Whereas, on the other hand, those may 
safely conclude that they have no true 
vocation, in whom the said dispositions do 
not exist at least in a certain degree, or 
who are advised by their directors not to 
enter that state, or who are influenced by 
views of sensuality, avarice, or ambi- 
tion, or by the solicitations of their pa- 



1 Who may believe themselves called to the priest' 
hood? 

2 Who may conclude that they have no such voca- 
tion ? 



* Heb. v. 4, 5. 
15* 



174 



rents ; or, lastly, who are engaged in a 
sinful life. 1 Dreadful would be the 
consequences of taking holy orders with- 
out a call from God : the grace of the sa- 
crament would be frustrated in those who 
should do so, by which they would de- 
prive themselves of the succours from the 
Almighty, which are daily necessary to 
enable his ministers to discharge their 
manifold and arduous duties, and thus they 
would, in all probability, lose their own 
souls, and be the cause of the damnation 
of thousands of others, who to all eter- 
nity would cry out for vengeance against 
them. 

II. 2 The religious state is that in 
which persons of either sex retire into 
monasteries or religious houses, and there 
consecrate themselves by vow to the ser- 
vice of God. 3 Such is the sanctity of the 
religions state and so awful are the obli- 
gations which it imposes, that none should 
embrace it ivithout a call from God. 



1 What would be the consequence of taking holy 
orders ivithout a true call from God 1 

2 What is meant by the religious state P 

3 Would it be proper to embrace this state without 
being called to it 1 



175 

1 For this reason, those who feel an incli- 
nation to engage in it are required by the 
church to try themselves for the space 
of at least twelve months, in what is 
called the noviciate. During this time 
of trial, they are at liberty to return into 
the world. 2 If they conclude on becom- 
ing religious, they mate their profession 
by a triple vow of perpetual poverty, 
chastity, and obedience : 3 of poverty, 
whereby they renounce ell worldly pos- 
sessions ; 4 of chastity, whereby they 
bind themselves to live a single life, and 
to renounce all carnal pleasures, 5 and of 
obedience, whereby they give up their 
own liberty and will, to follow in all 
things the will of their superior. 6 This 
vow beins: once taken, they have then no 
longer the choice of returning to a se- 
cular life, but must persevere in the state 
which they have embraced till death. 7 The 

1 What is required before a person can embrace a 
religious state ] 

2 What are the vows usually taken by the religious ! 

3 What is the vow of poverty ? 

4 What is the vow of chastity ? 

5 What is the vow of obedience ? 

6 Can a person return to the world who has taken 
these vows 1 

7 W r hat is to be said of those parents who either 



176 



conduct of those parents, who endeavour to 
persuade their children to enter into a reli- 
gious state, contrary to their own inclina- 
tions, and that of those who refuse to allow 
their children to try their vocation by en- 
tering into the noviciate, when they are 
of a competent age, and have the appro- 
bation of their directors, are highly 
blameable and sinful. By either the 
one or the other, they will probably be- 
come the cause of their eternal ruin. 



CHAPTER THE THIRTEENTH. 

I. Matrimony. — II. Impediments of marriage. — 

III. Manner of preparing to enter that state.—' 

IV. What is to be done on entering it. — V. Ob- 
ligations of married persons. — VI. Churching of 
women after child-birth. 

I. 1 We have already seen that the na- 
tural contract of matrimony, originally in- 
stituted by the Almighty between our first 
parents in paradise, has been raised by Je- 

force their children, or ivill not allow them to embrace 
a religious state 1 

1 Why was the natural contract of matrimony 
raised to the dignity of a sacrament ? 



17-7 



sus Christ to the dignity of a saerament 3 
that married persons may thereby re- 
ceive those graces which are necessary 
to enable them to discharge with fidelity 
their many and arduous duties. 1 But, in 
order to receive these graces, they must 
first make choice of a person in ichorn 
there is no impediment to marriage : 
2dly, their conduct before marriage must 
be such as not to offend God, but please 
him : and 3dly, when they receive that 
sacrament, they must do it with jmrity of 
intention and purity of conscience. And 
yet, although such be undoubtedly their 
duty, and although there is no circumstance 
of their lives upon which their present 
and future happiness so much depend, as 
upon the manner in which they enter into 
that vstate, there is, Unfortunately, no occa- 
sion on which the generality seem so little 
disposed to be influenced by principles of 
religion, as when they are about to enter 
or are actually entering upon it. 2 Their 
conduct before marriage is, for the most 
part, such as to brins; upon them the 

1 What precautions are necessary to receive the 
grace annexed to this sacrament \ 

2 What is the conduct of the generality of people 
before marriage I 



178 



anger and indignation of God : in mar- 
rying they think little of the sacredness 
of the action which they are performing, 
and seldom are influenced by proper mo- 
tives. Thus, instead of the Almighty's 
blessing, they receive his curse, and with 
this it is not to be wondered if they are 
not happy and never fulfil their obliga- 
tions. 1 With the view of instructing 
Christians how to prevent these dreadful 
evils, the following paragraphs will con- \ 
tain, 1st, the impediments of marriage : : 
2dly, the manner of preparing for that 
state : 3dly, what is to be done on enter- 
ing it : and 4thly, the obligations of 
married persons. 

II. 2 The impediments of marriage are i 
founded partly upon the law of nature, 
partly upon the divine law, and partly 
upon the laws of the church, and they are 
all most reasonable in themselves, and insti- 
tuted for good and wise purposes. 3 These 
impediments are of two kinds ; some only 
make it sinful for persons under particular 

1 What are the things proper to he known concern- 
ing matrimony 1 

2 Upon what are the impediments of marriage 
founded ? 

3 How many kinds of impediments are there ? 



179 



circumstances to contract marriage, but do- 
not annul it when the contract has been 
made : others render the parties totally 
incapable of contracting marriage, in so 
much that, were they even to pretend to 
do it, the act would be null and void in 
the sight of God and his church. 1 The 
impediments which only render it un- 
lawful and sinful to marry, but do not 
annul the contract when made, are three : 
1st, the prohibition of the church, that 
is, the precept which forbids marriage to 
be solemnized between the first Sunday 
of advent and the twelfth day after Christ- 
mas day, and between Ash- Wednesday 
and Low-Sunday, all inclusively : 2dly, a 
promise of marriage, that is, when two 
persons have entered into a mutual en- 
gagement to marry each other, neither of 
them can marry another so long as that 
engagement is not dissolved by mutual 
consent, or in some other lawful way : and 
3dly, a private vow to live a life of chas- 
tity, or to enter into a religious order. 
2 The impediments which render the par- 

1 Which are the impediments that only render it 
sinful to mamy, but do not annul the contract when 
made] 

2 Which are the impediments that render marriage 



180 

ties totally incapable of contracting mar- 
riage are fourteen : 1st, a mistake of the 
person, that is, when any one has entered 
into a contract of marriage with one per- 
son supposing it to have been another, the 
marriage is null : 2d, being in holy or- 
ders, or under a solemn vow of chastity, \ 
by which is meant a vow that is made in 
an approved religious order : 3d, relation- 
ship by blood to the fourth degree, or that 
of third cousins : 4th, affinity by mar- j 
riage, that is, a man, after the death of 
his wife, cannot marry any of her rela- 
tions in blood to the fourth degree inclu- 
sively, nor, in like manner, a woman the 
relations of her deceased husband : 5th, 
affinity from the crime of fornication 
or adultery to the second degree ; that is, 
a person who has been guilty of fornica- 
tion or adultery with another, cannot 
marry the brother, sister, or first cousin 
of his or her accomplice in guilt : 6th, 
spiritual affinity arising from baptism : 
by this a person who has baptized a child, 
or stood godfather or godmother to a 
child in baptism, cannot afterwards marry 



null and void in the sight of God and his church, even 
when the contract has been made ? 



181 

the child or its parents : 7th, adultery 
committed by two persons under a mu- 
tual engagement to marry each other as 
soon as both parties are free : 8th, a feign- 
ed marriage followed by adultery be- 
tween two persons, one or both of them 
being already married : 9th, murder ; 
that is, if a man murders his own wife, in 
order to marry a woman with whom he 
has committed adultery, or if he murders 
the husband of a woman with whom he 
has committed adultery, in order to marry 
the latter, in either case a contract of mar- 
riage would be null : 10th, the use of vio- 
lence^ that is, where a person is induced 
to consent to marriage through bodily fear: 
11th, infidelity ', that is, when one of the 
parties is not a Christian : 12th, public 
honesty, that is, when two persons are 
publicly known to have promised mar- 
riage to each other, and that promise has 
been dissolved by death, by mutual con- 
sent, or by any other cause, he cannot 
afterwards marry her mother or sister, nor 
she his father or brother : 13th, clandes- 
tineness, that is, when the contract is not 
entered into before a parish priest and two 
witnesses ; this impediment, however, is 
only in force in those places where the 
16 



182 



decrees of the Council of Trent, relative 
to certain points of discipline, have been 
received and published :* and 14th, the 
bond of marriage, that is, a married man 
cannot, under any circumstances, marry 
again during the life-time of his wife, nor 
a married woman during the life-time of 
her husband. From this it follows, 1st, 
that when, in case of adultery, a divorce 
has been justly and legally obtained, not 
even the innocent party has the power to 
marry during the life-time of the other ; 
and 2dly, that where the parties have, 
from any cause, been separated without 
hearing of each other, no length of ab- 
sence can entitle either of them to marry 
again without a moral certainty, ground- 
ed not upon suspicion or vague report, but j 
indisputable evidence, of the death of the 
other party. Such are the impediments 



* Clandestine marriages have, at all times, been con- 
demned by the church as sinful, but were not ann ulled 
before the general Council of Trent. In Great Britain, 
however, this decree was never published, and conse- 
quently here clandestine marriages, though sinful, are 
valid. In Ireland it was published in all the dioceses, 
except the arch-bishoprick of Dublin, the dioceses of 
Kildare, Ferns, Ossory, and Meath, and the wardenship 
of Gal way : and in the month of December, 1827 ? in 
the remaining dioceses. — Note, English Ed* 

i 



183 



which religion opposes to indiscriminate 
connexions by marriage. 1 And here let it 
be observed, that no plea, either of igno- 
rance or the ties of a father and mother 
to their offspring, can make it lawful in 
the sight of God for those who have mar- 
ried even innocently, under any of these 
impediments, to live any longer together, 
when they have become acquainted with 
the impediment which made their mar- 
riage null. 2 That same divine will, how- 
ever, upon which these impediments are 
founded, has given to the church the 
power of dispensing with such of them 
as are not repugnant to the law of nature, 
when for any weighty cause she judges it 
expedient, 3 and to her judgment, as to 
that of a prudent mother, ever solicitous 
to do what, she considers most conducive 
to the good of her children, all are obliged 
to submit. — 4 Those who have married 



1 Cannot persons on any account live together after 
they have become acquainted with an impediment 
which rendered their marriage null ? 

2 Has the church the power of dispensing with any 
of these impediments 1 

3 Are all obliged to submit to her judgment respect- 
ing them] 

4 What must those do who find out that they were 



184 



under an impediment of which they were 
ignorant, on becoming acquainted with it, 
must have immediate recourse to their 
pastor, and request him to represent their 
case to proper authority, and ask for a dis- 
pensation. If it be granted, they may 
then lawfully marry each other : if not, 
they are bound, whatever inconvenience 
may arise from it, to separate. 1 With 
regard to dispensations for those who 
have not already contracted marriage, they 
ought seldom to be asked, as it is the 
spirit of the church to grant them as sel- 
dom as possible, and then only for the 
most urgent reasons. 2 From this it fol- 
lows, that those who pay their addresses, 
or receive the addresses of persons whom 
they are prohibited to marry, unless under 
very extraordinary circumstances, are 
guilty of sin, 3 and that parents are 
obliged to use their authority to prevent 

married under an impediment that made the contract 
null? 

1 What is the spirit of the church respecting the 
granting of dispensations to marry 1 

2 What is to be said of the conduct of those who 
pay their addresses to, or receive the addresses of, per- 
sons whom they are prohibited to marry ] 

3 What is the duty of parents towards their children 
in this respect ? 



185 

undue intercourse between their children 
and relatives within the prohibited degrees. 

III. 1 The first duty of those who de- 
sign to enter the married state is, to 
plore the divine assistance to guide them 
in their choice of a proper person: 2 2dly, 
before young men make proposals of mar- 
riage, or young women accept of them, it 
is their duty to consult their parents, 
and also to be guided by their advice, un- 
less in the opinion of prudent and impar- 
tial persons they are unreasonable in re- 
fusing their consent. Those, however, 
who are under the age of twenty- one 
years, are more strictly obliged to obey 
their parents, so as not to marry without 
their permission: 3 3dly, they must pro- 
pose to themselves a pure intention, by 
designing to marry in order to sanctify 
their souls, and to bring up their children, 
if they are blessed with any, in the fear 
and love of God: 4 4thly, the object of 

1 What is the first duty of those who design to 
marry ] 

2 Are children obliged to consult their parents before 
marriage ? 

3 What intentions should Christians have in mar- 
rying ? 

4 What qualities ought they chiefly to look for in a 
husband or wife 1 

16* 



186 



their choice must be persons distinguish- 
ed by virtue and good character rather 
than by wealth, beauty, and the like, which 
last ought at best to be but secondary con- 
siderations. 1 othly, they should choose 
persons of their own religion, for, al- 
though the church does not absolutely for- 
bid her children to marry those who are 
not of the Catholic faith, but tolerates such 
marriages in order to prevent greater evils, 
still they are quite contrary to her spirit, 
and experience shows, that the want of 
union in faith between husband and wife 
is generally attended with the worst of 
consequences, both to themselves and to 
their children. 2 However, a Catholic 
should, upon no account, on marrying a 
person of another religion, enter into an 
agreement that their children shall be edu- 
cated in any ether than the Catholic faith: 
3 6thly, those who keep company with the 
view of marriage, should never take or 
at low indecent familiarities , for such 



1 What is to be said respecting marriages between 
Catholics and persons of other religious persuasions ? 

2 How must they arrange respecting the education 
of their children ? 

3 What is to be said of indecent familiarities be- 
tween persons who keep company ? 



1ST 



being always mortal sins, will inevitably 
bring upon them the indignation and the 
curse of God: hence confessors are bound 
to refuse absolution to those who are living 
in the habit of such sins: 1 lastly, those 
who design to marry must go to the sacra- 
ment of penance, in order that, if they 
have fallen into mortal sin, they may 
thereby be restored to the state of grace, 
because it is as necessary to receive the 
sacrament of matrimony with a pure 
conscience as any of the other sacra- 
ments, 2 and such as receive it otherwise 
are \ guilty of sacrilege, and deprive them- 
selves of the grace of the sacrament. 

IV. Since the laws of the country in 
which we live do not sanction marriages 
which are contracted only in the Catholic 
Church, 3 it becomes necessary that Catho- 
lics, in order to make their marriages 
legale should appear before a minister of 
the established church. 4 Previously, 

1 Is it requisite that matrimony should be received in 
the state of grace ? 

2 What would be the consequence of receiving it in 
mortal sin ? 

3 Why is it necessary for Catholics to be married in 
the established church ? 

4 Is it requisite that they should be first married by 
a priest ? 



188 



however, to their doing this, it is their 
duty to receive the sacrament of matri- 
mony according to the Catholic rite. — 
1 If they neglect this, and go to the esta- 
blished church in the first instance, they 
are guilty of sin. Whereas, by being 
first married by their own pastor, the 
sacred, contract is made in the sight of 
God and his church, and their subsequent 
appearance before an established minister 
becomes then a mere civil action, which 
they perform in order to render their mar- 
riages legal. 2 Christians should be care- 
ful not to profane the day of their mar- 
riage by dissipation and diversions which 
are inconsistent with the duties of religion. 
It is, indeed, just and reasonable that they 
should celebrate the day with joy in the 
company of their relatives and friends, a 
practice which is even sanctioned by Jesus 
Christ himself, who honoured the marriage 
feast of Cana with his presence: but then, 
all intemperance, all dangerous diversions, 
and, much more, all indelicate allusions 
must be absolutely excluded, as unbe- 



1 What would be the consequence of going first to 
the Protestant Church ? 

2 How is the day of marriage to be spent] 



IS9 

coming Christians, not only on this, but 
every other occasion. 

V. 1 Married persons must know that 
there is a purity attached by the sacred 
laws of God to their state, as well as to a 
single life, a purity which renders every 
action, that does not tend to the end for 
which matrimony teas instituted, cri- 
minal in the sight of God. Far, then, 
should be from them that brutality of which 
St. Paul in his epistles often complains, as 
being like that of the heathens who, know- 
ing not God, abandon themselves without 
restraint to their passions. 2 Let them also 
remember, that the debt of marriage which 
each one owes to the other, cannot, with- 
out a just cause, be lawfully refused, and 
that the party so refusing is answerable to 
God for whatever evil may arise from it. 

3 Husbands owe to their wives love, pro- 
tection, kind treatment, good example, 
and condescension to their weaknesses ; 

4 but, at the same time, they are not to suf- 
fer them to rule, but must preserve in 



1 What sort of purity is required of married persons ? 

2 To what does the debt of marriage bind them ? 

3 "What is the duty of husbands towards their wives'? 

4 Are they bound to maintain their authority in 
their families 1 



190 



their families that authority which God has 
given to them, for, as St. Paul says,* the 
husband is the head of the wife. 1 Wives, 
on the other hand, are obliged to love, re- 
spect, and honour their husbands, to be- 
have towards them with obedience and 
submission, to conform as much as possible 
to their inclinations and wishes, and not 
to squander away their substance. Let 
wives, says St. Peter,t be subject to their 
husbands. 2 And, since trials and crosses 
are inseparable from the state of marriage, 
both parties ??iust accept of them with 
patience, offer them to God in expiation 
of their sins, and endeavour to be a mutual 
support to each other, through the motives 
which religion dictates. 3 Numerous, also, 
and important are the duties which fathers 
and mothers owe to their children. As 
soon as they are born, they are bound to 
make an offering of them to Almighty 
God, and to have them speedily baptized. 



1 What is the duty of wives towards their husbands ? 

2 How ought married persons to act under the trials 
and crosses attached to their state 1 

3 What are the duties of parents towards their child- 
ren as soon as they are born ! 



* Eph. v. 23. f 1 Pet. iii. 1. 



191 



1 In their earliest infancy, they must ac- 
custom them to the duties of religion, 
curb all their evil inclinations, keep 
them as much as possible from associat- 
ing ivith those of the other sex, punish 
them, but always in a mild and rational 
manner, for their faults; by no means suf- 
fer them to lie in the same bed together 
after they have come to the use of reason ; 
and, above all things, be careful never to 
say or do any thing in their presence 
to scandalize them. 2 As they advance 
more in years, they must treat them on all 
occasions with kindness, so as to gain their 
affections and esteem : if they are obliged 
to punish them, they must do it in such 
manner as to show that they are not in- 
fluenced by passion or ill humour, but 
solely by the desire of their good; make 
the best provision they can towards their 
future establishment in the world, yet so 
as not to force their inclinations in the 
choice of a state of life; accustom them to 
industry and serious occupation; keep due 
subordination amongst them, to prevent 

1 What must they do for them during the years of 
infa7icy ? 

2 How must they behave towards them as they grow 
older ? 



192 



their quarrelling with each other ; watch 
with a most vigilant eye over the com- 
party they keep, so as never to allow any 
that is likely to be dangerous to their 
morals, and inspire them with a great 
esteem for prayer, spiritual reading, and 
all the exercises of religion. 

VI. 1 The practice of churching women 
after child-birth is not commanded by any 
law either of God or his church, but is 
pious and commendable in itself, if per- 
formed in j)roper dispositions. 2 The 
object of it is, to make a public thanks- 
giving to God for their safe delivery and 
recovery, together with offering of their 
infants to him, and to receive the bless- 
ing of the priest. 3 In order that the 
Almighty may accept of their thanks- 
giving and the offering they make to him, 
and also give them his blessing through 
the hands of his minister, it is requisite 
that they should be in the disposition of 
sorrow for their sins. 4 From this it 



1 What is to be said of the ceremony of churching 
women after child-birth 1 

2 What is the object of it? 

3 In what disposition ought it to be performed ? 

4 Have women, who neglect their duty a right to be 
churched 1 



193 



follows, that the pastors of the church are 
fully justified in refusing to church those 
women who neglect the duties of religion. 
1 They are, moreover, expressly forbidden 
to church a woman who is not lawfully 
married. 



CHAPTER THE FOURTEENTH. 

It Prayer, mental and vocal. — II. 7/5 necessity. — 
III. Conditions of prayer. — IV. Time of prayer, 
— V. What prayers are to be said,- — VI. Medi- 
tation, 

I. 2 Prayer is a raising up of our 
minds to God, either to adore and praise 
him, to thank him for his benefits, to im- 
plore his mercy and grace, or to offer our 
thoughts, words, and actions to him. 
3 There are two kinds of prayer, mental 
and vocal, 4 Mental prayer is that which 
is performed only in the heart and the 
mind, without being accompanied with 



1 Can a priest church a woman who is not married? 

2 What is prayer ? 

3 How many hinds of prayer are there 1 

4 What is mental prayer ? 

17 



194 



any words. 2 By vocal prayer is under- 
stood, not a mere hypocritical service of 
the tongue and lips, but an outward decla- 
ration of the sentiments of the heart, by 
ivords spoken to the Almighty, either in 
secret or aloud, or read in books. 

II. 2 All Christians, who have arrived 
at and possess the use of reason, are on 
several accounts obliged to pray : 1st, be- 
cause Jesus Christ has commanded us to 
pray ; ive must pray always, says he,* 
and not faint. 3 He does not mean by 
this, that we are always to be praying 
either mentally or reciting vocal prayers, 
but that we must at all times be in the 
disposition of the love of God, and there- 
by refer to him all the thoughts, ivords, 
and actions of our lives. Hence it may 
be truly said, that the lives of such as love 
God are an uninterrupted prayer, and that 
they only cease to pray when they cease 
to love him: 2dly, because ive cannot 
perform a single action that ivill be 

1 What is vocal prayer P 

2 Why are all Christians obliged to pray ? 

3 What is meant by the command of Jesus Christ to 
pray always ? 



* St. Luke xviii. 1. 



195 



profitable to salvation, nor even so 
much as entertain a good thought, without 
the grace of God, which is not to be 
obtained but by prayer. The sacraments 
are, indeed, the channels through which 
divine grace flows into the soul ; but 
even these do not produce their intended 
effects, unless the receiving of them be 
accompanied by prayer : 3dly, God being 
the creator of all things, and possessing 
sovereign dominion over all, we are 
obliged to adore and praise him, to offer 
our whole being to him, and to implore 
his help under all our necessities : and 
4thly, since we have nothing which we 
have not received from God, we ought to 
return him thanks for all his benefits, 
and implore his grace to make good use 
of them. 

III. 1 In order that our prayers may 
produce their effect, they must be accom- 
panied with these five conditions : we 
must pray in the name of Jesus Christ, 
with humility, with attention, with con- 
fidence, and with perseverance. 2 We 
must pray in the name and through the 



i What are the necessary conditions of prayer 1 

& Why must we pray in the name of Jesus Christ ? 



196 



merits of Jesus Christ, because he is our 
mediator, and there is no other name 
under heaven given to us, whereby we 
can obtain either grace or salvation. a Even 
when we address our prayers to the saints, 
we can only beg of them to unite their 
prayers with ours, to obtain what we 
want through the merits of our com- 
mon Redeemer; and when we adore, 
praise, or thank God, it must be done in 
the same adorable name. 2 We must pray 
with humility and compunction, on ac- 
count of our own weakness, poverty , and 
indigence, and the number and grievous- 
ness of our offences against him, on whom 
we depend for all present and future good. 

3 We must pray with attention, for, if we 
pray with wilful distraction, without at- 
tending either to God or what we are say- 
ing to him, we are guilty of mockery. 
Let it, however, be understood that, of 
wilful distractions some are wilful in 
themselves, and others in their cause. 

4 Distractions are wilful in themselves, 



1 Is it in the name of Jesus that we pray when we 
invoke the intercession of the saints ? 

2 Why must we pray with humility ? 

3 Why must we pray with attention ? 

4 What is meant by distractions that are wilful in 
themselves ? 



197 



when persons knowingly and deliberately 
think of things foreign to piety whilst say- 
ing their prayers. 1 Distractions are said 
to be wilful in their cause, when they 
are caused by leading a dissipated and 
worldly life, by a misplaced affection 
towards any person or thing in the world, 
by too great a solicitude about temporal 
affairs, or by giving way to excessive grief 
under misfortune. For since, as our Sa- 
viour says,* where your treasure is, there 
your heart shall also be, it is not sur- 
prising that those who give their continual 
attention to any thing more than God, 
should have distractions when they pre- 
tend to pray. 2 Now, prayers that are 
said with distractions which are either 
wilful in themselves or in their cause, can- 
not be called a raising up of the mind to 
God, 3 But if distractions be not wilful 
in either of these ways, but arise merely 



1 What is meant by distractions that are wilful in 
their cause ? 

2 What is to be thought of prayers that are said with 
wilful distraction ? 

3 What is to be thought of those distractions which 
arise from human infirmity ? 



* Matt. vi. 21. 
17* 



198 



from human infirmity, our prayers under 
them will be equally acceptable to God, 
as if our minds were all the time intent 
upon him. 1 In order, however, to pre- 
serve our minds free from distraction in 
prayer, we must, according to the admoni- 
tion of the wise man ;* prepare oar souls 
before prayer, that ice may not be like 
a man that tempt eth God: that is, we 
must retire to a place where we shall be 
free from external sources of distraction, 
place ourselves in the presence of God and 
think seriously of what we are going to 
do. 2 We must pray with confidence, be- 
cause God both can and will grant our 
requests, when he sees they are for our 
good and are offered in a proper manner : 
all things, says our Saviour, ichat soever 
ye shall ask when you pray, believe that 
you shall receive, and it shall come unto 
you. 3 We must pray, likewise, with per- 
severance, for two reasons : first, because 
every day brings with it new wants and 

1 What must we do to preserve our minds from 
distractions in prayer 1 

2 Why must we pray with confidence ? 

3 Why must we pray with perseverance ? 



* Eccles. xviii. 23. 



199 



necessities, and secondly, because God 
often refuses in the beginning of prayer, 
what he afterwards grants, if we persevere 
in it. 

IV. Prayer may be taken either for the 
habitual disposition of a heart that loves 
God, that desires to be united to him, and 
that lives for him alone, and in this sense 
we are obliged to pray always ; or for the 
actual raising up of our minds to God by 
adoration, praise, offering, thanksgiving or 
supplication, and in this sense we are only 
obliged to practise it at certain times and 
on certain occasions. 1 The times which 
we are particularly obliged to devote to 
prayer are a considerable portion of all 
Sundays and holy days. 2 The occasions 
which render this duty in an especial man- 
ner incumbent upon us, are, when we are 
sick, when we are under any affliction, 
temptation, or persecution, and in all ex- 
traordinary necessities ; at times of public 
calamity; at the beginning "and end of 
every important action of the day; when 

we have received any grace or blessing 
_ 

1 What are the times when the duty of prayer is 
particularly binding ! 

2 What are the occasions on which we are in an 
especial manner bound to pray ! 



200 



from God; and for our neighbours, when 
they are under necessities which, if our 
own, oblige us to pray for ourselves. 
1 Moreover, all Christians should make it 
an invariable rule to begin and end every 
day of their lives with prayer. The de- 
votions proper to be performed in the 
morning and evening depend, in some 
measure, upon each one's leisure. Those, 
who have their time in a great degree at 
their own disposal, should perform the 
daily exercise which is in the Garden of 
the Sonl, or that of some other approved 
prayer book. 2 But, as for the poor who 
are obliged to labour, they ought, in the 
morning, 1st, to bow down their souls to 
adore God : 2dly, to thank him for all 
his favours, and for having preserved them 
during the night : 3dly, to offer to him 
all the thoughts, words, and actions of the 
day : 4thly, to implore his grace not to 
offend him throughout the day : 5thly, to 
beg the intercession of the blessed Vir- 
gin and the other saints, and the protec- 
tion of their guardian angels, and lastly, 



1 Are morning and evening prayers necessary ] 

2 What morning prayers should be said by the poor 
who are obliged to labour ? 



201 



to say the Lord's prayer, the Hail Mary, 
the Apostles' creed, the confiteor, and the 
acts of faith, hope, charity, and contri- 
tion : and these prayers are to be said not 
only for themselves but for all others, par- 
ticularly their children, relations, benefac- 
tors, and friends, whether living or dead. 
1 For their evening exercise, they should, 
1st, adore God : 2dly, thank him for all 
his benefits, particularly for those which 
they have received that day : 3dly, exa- 
mine how they have spent the day : 4thly, 
ask pardon of God for their sins, and re- 
solve to commit them no more : 5thly, 
pray to the Almighty to preserve them 
from all the illusions of the devil and 
other evils during the night : 6thly, im- 
plore the intercession of the blessed Vir- 
gin, fyc. as in the morning. 2 It is, also, 
a pious practice of the faithful to say the 
angelus every morning, noon, and night. 
3 The object of the angelus is tw T ofold : 
1st, to call to our recollection the incar- 
nation of the Son of God, and to beg of 
the Almighty that through the merits of 

1 What should be their evening exercises ? 

2 What is to be said of the practice of saying the 
angelus at morning, noon, and night 1 

3 What are the objects of this prayer 1 



202 



his passion and death, we may arrive at 
the glory of his resurrection ; and 2dly, 
to commemorate the share which the 
blessed Virgin had in the incarnation 
of Jesus Christ, and to invoke her inter- 
cession. 1 To say grace before and after 
meals, is likewise a debt of gratitude, 
which we ought every day to pray to God 
for his temporal blessings. 

V. 2 Nearly allied to prayer is the great 
duty of meditation, which consists in re- 
fleeting upon some of the great truths 
of eternity, death, judgment, hell, or 
heaven, upon the law and command- 
ments of God, or some of the duties of 
a Christian life, and then examining 
our hearts by those truths, lamenting our 
corruption, weakness, and misery, making 
good resolutions and imploring the help 
of the Mmighty to keep them. 3 Ml 
Christians are obliged to meditate in 
this manner, because all are obliged to be 
impressed with a lively sense of the laws 
of God, to examine their consciences by 
them, to lament their infidelities in the 

1 Ought Christians to say grace before and after 
meals ? 

2 What is meditation ? 

5 Are all Christians obliged to meditate P 



203 

observance of them, and to make resolu- 
tions and take measures to amend. 1 Such 
as have the leisure, should devote a quar- 
ter or half an hour every morning or 
some time in the day to meditation. — 
2 Others would do well to read or listen 
every evening to a chapter in some pious 
book, and meditate upon the subject of the 
lecture. 3 But even the most simple and 
ignorant may find abundant matter for 
meditation in the instructions, sermons, 
and exhortations of their pastors, and in 
the lives and example, whether good or 
bad, of those around them. 



1 What time should those who have leisure devote 
to meditation 1 

2 What must those do in this respect whose time is 
more fully occupied? 

3 On what may the more ignorant persons meditate 1 



204 



CHAPTER THE FIFTEENTH. 

I. Sign of the cross. — II. Blessings. — III. Confra- 
ternities. 

I. One of the most ancient and pious 
ceremonies of the Catholic Church is the 
use of the sign of the cross, a ceremony 
which began with the first establishment 
of Christianity itself, and has been prac- 
tised by Catholics in every age and coun- 
try. 1 It is made by putting the right 
hand to the forehead, then to the breast, 
then to the left shoulder, and lastly to the 
right shoulder, and saying at the same 
time — In the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 
Jlmen. 2 The sign which we make with 
the hand puts us in mind of our redemp- 
tion through the merits of the death of 
Jesus Christ upon the cross, 3 and the 
words, which we pronounce at the same 



1 How is the sign of the cross made, and what are 
the words which accompany it 1 

2 Of what does this sign serve to remind us ? 

3 Of what do the words serve to remind us? 



205 



time, serve to remind us of the great mys- 
tery of the most holy Trinity ', in whose 
name we have been baptized. 1 We make 
use of this sign before and after our prayers, 
to signify that we place all our confidence 
of obtaining nrercy, grace, and salvation 
in the blessed Trinity, and in the merits 
of our crucified Saviour. 

II. 2 By blessings are understood those 
prayers and ceremonies whereby the 
church dedicates certain things to the 
use of religion, such as water, salt, oil, 
chapels, altars, the vestments, and linen 
used at the altar, &c. In the prayers 
which are employed in these blessings, 
she begs of the Almight}^, that the use of 
them may produce grace in our souls. — 
3 The grace, however, which we expect to 
derive from using those things which are 
blessed, we do not believe to arise from 
any inherent virtue which they possess in 
their own nature, but from the virtue and 
omnipotence of God. To attribute any 
supernatural efficacy to them independ- 



1 Why do we make use of this sign before and after 
our prayers ? 

2 What are understood by blessings ? 

3 Whence arises the grace which we receive from 
the use of things that are blessed 1 

18 



206 



ently of God, would be superstitious. 1 It 
must, also, be observed, that there is a 
wide difference between the efficacy of 
those things which are blessed for the ad- 
ministration of the sacraments and of 
such as are blessed for other pious uses, 
that of the former being derived from the 
institution of Jesus Christ himself, and 
that of the latter being only given by the 
Mmighty according to his own good 
will and pleasure, and in such proportion 
as the faith, piety, and respect of those 
who use them deserve. 

III. 2 Confraternities are associations 
which persons living in the world form 
amongst themselves to perform certain 
exercises of piety. 3 These associations 
are doubtless good and pleasing to the 
Almighty, when their rules are in ac- 
cordance with the spirit of the church, 
and they are kept free from abuses. 4 No 



1 What is the difference between the efficacy of those 
things which are blessed for the administration of the 
sacraments and those which are blessed for other pious 
uses ? 

2 What are confraternities P 

3 Are they good and pleasing to God ? 

4 What is to be said respecting new practices of de- 
votion, and the publishing of indulgences in favour of 
the members of a confraternity ] 



207 



new practices of devotion should be in- 
stituted, and much less should any indul- 
gences be published in favour of the 
members of a confraternity, without the 
sanction of episcopal authority. 1 Such 
persons as wish to become members of a 
confraternity should examine well whe- 
ther the particular obligations which its 
rule imposes will interfere with the faith- 
ful performance of their general duties ; 
and if so, by no means ought they to en- 
gage in it, because works of precept must 
always have the preference to those which 
are only of counsel. 2 Their motive, must, 
also, be good; that is, they must not be 
actuated by vanity, or any worldly induce- 
ment, but solely by the desire of promot- 
ing the honour and glory of God and 
their own and neighbour's salvation. — 
3 After engaging, let them faithfully ob- 
serve their rule, and at the same time 
guard against the abuse of too many who 
rest their hopes of salvation more upon 



1 What precautions are to be taken before entering 
a confraternity 1 

2 "What motives must persons have on entering such 
an association ] 

3 What advice is to be given to members of confra- 
ternities 1 



208 

the performance of the particular practices 
of piety' which they have taken upon 
themselves, or even upon the badge which 
they carry about with them, than upon the 
discharge of the general duties of religion. 



CHAPTER THE SIXTEENTH. 

I. Eight beatitudes. — II. Conclusion, 

I. There are eight things which Jesus 
Christ assures us will make us happy upon 
earth, and which alone can entitle us to 
hope for eternal happiness hereafter. — 
1 Blessed, says he,* are the poor in spirit, 
for theirs is the kingdo?n of heaven. 
Blessed are the meel:,for they shall pos- 
sess the land. Blessed are they that 
mourn, for they shall be comforted. 
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst 
after justice, for they shall be filed. 
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall 



1 Which are the eight beatitudes ? 



* Matt. v. 



209 



obtain mercy. Blessed are the clean of 
heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are 
the peace makers, for they shall be called 
the children of God. Blessed are they 
that suffer persecution for justice* sake, 
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 1 By 
the poor in spirit are meant, 1st, the poor 
who are content with their condition; and 
2dly, the rich, whose affections are dis- 
engaged from what they possess. 2 By 
the meek are meant, those who are mild 
in their general deportment, and are not 
given to quarrelling, murmurs and com- 
plaints. 3 By the mourners are under- 
vStood, such as bewail their own sins and 
those of others ; who lead a penitential 
life, and suffer for the love of God all tem- 
poral afflictions. 4 By those that hunger 
and thirst after justice are meant, such 
as ardently aspire after, and take all pos- 
sible means to attain, perfection. 5 By the 
merciful, Jesus Christ means, those who 
compassionate and do what lies in their 
power to assist their neighbours in their 



1 Who are the poor in spirit ? 

2 Who are the meek ? 

3 Who are the mourners ? 

4 Who are they that hunger and thirst after justice P 
s Who are meant by the merciful ? 

18* 



210 



spiritual and corporal necessities. 1 The 
clean of heart are those whose hearts are 
disengaged from all affection to sin, and 
who continually strive to suppress the in- 
ordinate emotions of concupiscence. 2 The 
peace makers are such as live at peace, 
in their own interior, with their neigh- 
bours, and ivith God, and endeavour on 
all occasions to promote peace amongst all 
men. 3 By those that suffer persecution 
for justice' sake, we are to understand, 
such as are ill treated, calumniated, and 
despised, because they support truth and 
justice, and are guided in all their words 
and actions by the line of duty. 

II. 4 The conclusion of all that has been 
said is, that eternal life, or the everlasting 
sight and enjoyment of God, is the end 
for which man was made, and the end 
which he should have in view in all his 
thoughts, words, and deeds. It is to ob- 
tain this that he must believe all those 
truths which Jesus Christ delivered; and 



1 Who are the clean of heart? 

2 Who are the peace makers ? 

3 Who are they that suffer persecution for justice' 
sake ] 

4 What is the conclusion to he drawn from the fore« 
going instructions ] 



211 



often consider with gratitude what he has 
done and suffered to conduct him to it. It 
is for the same end that he must avoid evil 
and do good; that he must approach wor- 
thily to the sacraments, pray, and practise 
all the other duties of religion. In a word, 
the abridgment of Christianity, and of the 
foregoing instructions, is, that this earth is 
but a land of exile; that heaven is the true 
country towards which we ought to make 
daily advances; and that if we do so, we 
shall be eternally happy, but by neglecting 
it, we shall render ourselves eternally 
miserable. 



THE END. 



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